Canada is officially reopening its redfish fishery for the first time in 30 years as part of a larger transitional plan for fisheries in the nation's coastal communities.
The Canadian redfish fishery consists of two species of redfish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Laurentian Channel areas – deepwater redfish (Sebastes mentella) and Acadian redfish (Sebastes fasciatus). Populations of the two species collapsed in 1995, but Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has been running an experimental fishery to determine whether it could open up again.
Now, the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec will all get quotas for a new fishery after provinces lobbied for months to gain access to what was once a significant livelihood for fishers in Atlantic Canada. Canada Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard Diane Lebouthillier said the changes come as Canada faces tough choices regarding the future of its fisheries.
"Canada – a maritime nation at the forefront of climate change – is currently at a crossroads. In the face of these many challenges, we will need to be resilient, creative, and, above all, row together in the same direction,” she said. “By launching this robust transition plan today, our government is setting the stage for the future – a future where our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will continue to fish for world-class fish and seafood.”
The DFO announced the reopening of the redfish fishery will occur in two separate phases: a two-year transitional phase to allow for data collection and grant fish harvesters and processors time to prepare, followed by a second phase that will focus on the long-term development of the fishery. It will be "a phase that, in view of the current scientific data, would be one of expansion," DFO said.
The DFO and a newly formed Redfish Advisory Committee comprising representatives from the fishing and processing industries, Indigenous groups, provincial governments, and other stakeholders will also determine rules on share allocations and the total allowable catch (TAC), the DFO said. The TAC for the revamped fishery has been set at 25,000 metric tons (MT) in 2024, according to the DFO.
Per the DFO, the offshore mobile gear fleet, composed of vessels 100 feet or longer, will receive 58.69 percent of the allocation; the inshore mobile gear fleet, comprising vessels shorter than 65 feet, will receive 14.84 percent; the midshore mobile gear fleet, made up of vessels between 65 and 100 feet in length, will receive 5.72 percent; inshore fixed-gear fishermen will receive 0.75 percent of the quota for bycatch; Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence shrimp harvesters will receive 10 percent; and Indigenous communities will receive 10 percent. Shrimp harvesters are receiving a portion of the quota due to ongoing struggles related to the Northern shrimp stock, according to DFO.
For the 2024 season, the DFO announced a significant decrease in the TAC for the shrimp, dropping the total quota across its four fisheries to just 3,060 MT from 14,524 MT in 2023, and stating the quota will allow for a “modest fishery” that will allow stocks to recover.
The Northern shrimp stock has continued to decline over the past several years. According to a DFO assessment of the fishery, in 2020 and 2021, landings for all shrimp-fishing areas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence reached 17,845 MT and 17,217 MT, respectively, on a TAC of 17,999 MT. However, since 2008, surveys found the area where Northern shrimp concentrate has decreased, and in recent years, the stock had a low abundance of juvenile and male shrimp, indicating low stock productivity.
As for the redfish fishery, the department also released allocation by province, along with comparisons to historical quotas from the last time the fishery was open.
That shift to shrimp fishers comes at the cost of the larger offshore mobile gear fleet, which indigenous-owned Clearwater Seafoods said it is on the losing side of. The 20 percent of the TAC allocated to shrimp harvesters and indigenous communities comes from the offshore fleet
"I can confirm that the Clearwater/FNC quota was reduced in proportion with the other offshore groundfish license holders," Clearwater Vice President Christine Penney told the CBC.
According to the department, Newfoundland and Labrador will receive 19 percent of the quota – 2 percent more than its historical amount; Nova Scotia will receive 33 percent of the quota – 5.8 percent less than its historical amount; New Brunswick will receive 11 percent of the quota – 3.1 percent more than the historical amount; Prince Edward Island will receive 5 percent of the quota – 0.5 percent more than the historical amount; and Quebec will receive 32 percent of the quota – 0.2 percent more than the historical amount. The DFO said those numbers are subject to change.
Photo courtesy of Diane Lebouthillier/Facebook/Department of Fisheries and Oceans
