The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has passed new regulations that oblige its minister to restore depleted fish stocks in Canada and ensure they stay healthy that way, a move that comes weeks after closing two East Coast fisheries for sustainability.
The regulations are behind the changes in the Fisheries Act, adopted in 2019, and are closely monitored by commercial fisheries and environmentalists. The changes were published in the Canadian newspaper on Wednesday.
He has identified 30 major fish stocks that will require a recovery plan if they fall below what is called a “limit reference point” – where its productivity is likely to be so disrupted that serious damage will occur.
The DFO said 16 major fish stocks were in that position. Recovery plans for five have already been developed, and the remaining 11 stocks are in various stages of developing the plan.
The ministry’s minister will have up to three years to draw up a recovery plan once the stock reaches the limit reference point.
Publicly explained plans
Publicly published plans should explain why the stock is in difficulty, measurable recovery targets and deadlines, and how it should be achieved.
If a fund cannot be recovered, the minister must publicly explain why.
The rules say that fishing is allowed while a plan is being developed, provided that “the level of fishing in the stock during this time is in line with the recovery of the stock above the limit reference point”.
“Regulations will lead to increased transparency and accountability that accompany regulatory oversight compared to policy approaches,” the DFO said in a statement accompanying the regulations.
The regulations follow recent decisions by the DFO to close fishing on both shores on the grounds that stocks have been depleted by overfishing.
At the end of last year, the DFO stopped fishing for herring in the Pacific. At the end of March, it closed spring caviar herring fishing in St. Lawrence Bay and all Atlantic mackerel fishing.
Fishermen are disappointed
On the East Coast, the decision sparked a protest from an industry whose livelihood was halted.
Martin Mallet, executive director of the Union of Marine Fishermen, is disappointed that the moratorium on spring herring was imposed when his organization had been asking the DFO for a recovery plan for years. This is one that is still being developed.
“If you look at the success stories we have in other resources like lobster or snow cancer, they’ve all been managed successfully because we’ve had really good collaboration from the beginning with both fishermen and science,” Mallet said.
“And right now, in many of these actions that we see on this list, we don’t have that cooperation with the DFO and the minister.”
Mallet said DFO scientific assessments should better reflect the impact of predators such as seals on stocks and climate change, which can move fish to areas where they may not be caught in research.
Mallet added: “I think there are some positive things about the roadmap for implementing these stock recovery plans.”
Environmentalists support regulations
Josh Lauren, executive director of the Oceana environmental group, said he fully supported the regulations and said it was time for the DFO to act to protect depleted stocks.
“I think this is a sign that they have the courage of their beliefs here. Stocks such as herring and mackerel, herring on both shores, mackerel [on the] “The Atlantic was obviously depleted, apparently due to overfishing,” Lauren said.
Lauren said the regulations introduced by law were “what was supposed to be the policy and the way fisheries had to be managed for a long time. Enforcement matters, of course, but it’s a good, strong step which puts in place the proper management of fisheries that has been in the books for some time. “
In Atlantic Canada, there are plans to replenish depleted cod stocks off much of Newfoundland and Labrador and all Atlantic mackerel and northern shrimp in the northern part of the province.
In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, plans are being developed to restore winter flounder, white hake, American flounder, spring herring and cod. Cod off southern Nova Scotia and southern Newfoundland and Labrador under development
In British Columbia, the rock fish bocacho, the Chinook salmon on the west coast of Vancouver, the Chinook Okanagan salmon, the Coho Salmon internal Fraser, the Pacific herring Haida Gwaii and the yellow-eyed rock fish in the water are the main stocks below the reference point.
Claire Teichman, a spokeswoman for Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray, said the regulations were the result of consultations with industry, local and environmental groups.
“Minister Murray’s priority is the sustainable development of the fish and seafood sector in Canada,” Teichman told CBC News after the story was published.
“New amendments modernizing the Fisheries Act are key to strengthening our governance framework, as they impose binding obligations on the DFO to manage sustainably prescribed fish stocks and to implement timely recovery plans if they run out.”
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