On January 26th, DFO announced a phased approach to re-open the Unit 1 redfish fishery this year with a minimum total allowable catch of 25,000 tonnes.
Corner Brook MHA Gerry Byrne is calling on Ottawa and MP’s to allocate the redfish quota fairly. Redfish have made a remarkable comeback since 2011 and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) recently announced an end to the commercial redfish moratorium in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in place since 1995. On January 26th, DFO announced a phased approach to re-open the Unit 1 redfish fishery this year with a minimum total allowable catch of 25,000 tonnes. Byrne says former fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc came to the Bay of Islands and made a commitment. He says offshore companies don’t have boats to fish this resource, not the plants or workers to process it. Byrne says the federal government is forcing new boats and plant construction while those resources are in the Bay of Islands. He says many boats on the west coast do not have a significant catch to go after and with this quota, it would only be a half days work to catch it. Byrne says these boats belong to Indigenous people and existing boats should be preferred over building new capacity in other parts of Atlantic Canada.
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