The debate surrounding the allocation of Northern cod quotas has recently ignited a storm of controversy, and for good reason. Sylvie Lapointe, President of the Atlantic Groundfish Council, claims there is "misleading information in the public domain" regarding the commitment of allocating the first 115,000 tons of Northern cod to inshore harvesters and Indigenous groups in Newfoundland and Labrador. According to Lapointe, there was never meant to be "exclusive access to the Northern cod fishery by the inshore." The historical paper trail tells a very different story than Ms. Lapointe’s narrative.
A letter dated September 19, 2015, from the Liberal Party of Canada to the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW-Unifor) clearly articulated this commitment. It stated unequivocally that a Trudeau-led Liberal government would re-affirm the federal commitment to prioritize the first 115,000 metric tons of Northern cod quota for inshore harvesters. In fact, this was respecified as recently as 2021 in the federal management plan for 2J3KL Northern cod.
The 115,000-ton commitment was a promise to ensure that as Northern cod rebounded, the benefits would flow to inshore harvesters and coastal communities who rely on their adjacent resources. Beyond Trudeau’s 2015 commitment is a more than 50-year history of the Government of Canada repeating this sentiment throughout policy and management. From then Fisheries Minister Romeo Leblanc and throughout the decades since, the commitment has been a guiding principle of Northern cod recovery and rebuilding.
Yet here we are, almost 32 years after the cod moratorium, witnessing the federal government's decision to allow offshore draggers back on the cod grounds. This move is nothing short of an insult to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the nearly full suite of Liberal MPs have been suspiciously silent on the brazen assault on provincial sovereignty.
The Atlantic Groundfish Council, representing several offshore companies including Clearwater Seafoods and Ocean Choice International, has a significant share in the emerging Unit 1 redfish fishery and now, Northern cod. They represent a disturbing trend of continued corporate concentration and control of Canadian fish resources; making it harder and harder for the owner-operator to earn a sustainable living.
It's worth noting that offshore trawler catch rates were the last to drop before the stock completely collapsed in the early 1990s. You see, offshore draggers fish on pre-spawning and spawning aggregations, and they effectively decimated the remnants of the Northern cod stock – fishing for years after inshore harvesters first sounded the alarm on the stock’s declining health. The Atlantic Groundfish Council are simply apologists for the destruction and harm caused by offshore draggers; past and present.
Reopening the dragger fishery as soon as the stock enters the ‘Cautious’ zone is a grave mistake. It puts the resource under fierce fishing pressure just as it begins to rebuild, and it breaks a longstanding commitment from the Government of Canada that our coastal communities should be the primary beneficiaries of our adjacent resources.
A responsible and balanced decision would be to maintain Northern cod as a Stewardship Fishery. The federal Liberals, including elected NL Members of Parliament, have done a disservice to the province by allowing election votes to guide significant decisions instead of science, sustainability, and integrity.
The 115,000-ton commitment was symbolic of the relationship between the Government of Canada, the fishing industry, and the province.
The allocation of Northern cod quotas is more than just a fisheries management issue; it is a matter of trust, sustainability, and the future of coastal communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, and it is culturally and economically significant to the people of our province.
The Liberal government must honor its commitment and reverse their decision to end the Northern cod moratorium. Anything less is a betrayal of the promises made and the communities that depend on it.
Courtney Glode
Director of Public Affairs, FFAW Unifor
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