Ottawa shirked own guidelines when it reopened commercial cod fishery, say scientists

Fisheries scientists say the federal government ignored its own guidelines when it hiked cod quotas off the northern and eastern coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador last June.

The scientists, some of whom worked for Fisheries and Oceans Canada for decades, say they're struggling to understand the decision to reopen the commercial Northern cod fishery.

"I was baffled when I heard the news", said Noel Cadigan, a long-time DFO scientist who now works at Memorial University's Marine Institute. "And that hasn't changed."

A May 6 briefing note obtained by CBC/Radio-Canada shows DFO recommended against reopening the fishery to offshore vessels and increasing quotas.

But it also assured Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier that lifting the moratorium and hiking the total allowable catch – as all six Liberal MPs from Newfoundland and Labrador were pushing her to do – would nevertheless align with the Fisheries Act and its rules on stock management.

Scientists interviewed by CBC/Radio-Canada disagree.

What the Fisheries Act says

According to the act, the minister must maintain stocks such as Northern cod above the limit reference point (LRP), which designates the limit between the cautious and critical zones. Northern cod has been in the cautious zone since 2016, according to DFO, but population growth has stalled since that date, worrying scientists.

Despite DFO's assurances to the minister, the department's guidelines state that whenever a management decision is made regarding Northern cod, there should be at least a 75-per-cent probability that the stock won't fall below the LRP.

The DFO briefing note shows that the total allowable catch announced by Lebouthillier in June – 18,000 tonnes – doesn't respect that policy because the risks of stock decline were too high.

Even under a scenario with no cod fishing whatsoever, the chances of Northern cod remaining in the cautious zone were just 69 per cent, according to the document.

Rebecca Schijns, a Vancouver-based fisheries scientist at Oceana Canada, an environmental advocacy group, said the guidelines include provisions allowing for limited fisheries based on social and cultural concerns.

But she said the minister went too far, boosting quotas by about 40 per cent in a decision that "has no scientific basis."

"We believe this is a historic mistake," she said. "This is textbook mismanagement."

DFO stands by decision

In a statement Thursday, DFO said it is "of the opinion that the minister's decision is consistent with the Fisheries Act." 

"As with all fisheries management decisions, the 2024 decision on Northern cod was made taking into account the best available science, the views of stakeholders and the socioeconomic importance of this fishery," the statement reads.

Retired fisheries scientist Peter Shelton said, however, that he believes the catch limit set by the minister in June is neither precautionary nor sustainable. 

"It has a high probability of causing the Northern cod stock biomass to decline below the limit reference point," said Shelton, who worked at DFO for more than 30 years.

Political 'victory' promised

A separate briefing note, which CBC/Radio-Canada reported on last week, showed that Lebouthillier's political advisors believed reopening the commercial cod fishery would be a political victory for Newfoundland and Labrador.

In the end, the Atlantic Groundfish Council, the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union, the Newfoundland and Labrador government and several scientists all criticized the decision.

The FFAW is requesting an injunction to invalidate the decision, which forced the federal government to file a number of documents in Federal Court, including the briefing notes.

Ottawa's decision to reopen the commercial cod fishery was heralded as the end of the moratorium, but the current total allowable catch pales in comparison to the 190,000 tonnes landed in the early 1990s.

In the 1960s, landings surpassed 800,000 tonnes a year.

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