Proposed quota
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is pursuing a commercial quota on herring for areas off Southwest Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy.
DFO is proposing the use of a new stock modeling process, that could see quotas slashed to 13,050 tonnes from 35,000 tonnes, a 62 per cent reduction.
Commercial herring fishing operators have already voiced their opposition to those plans, including Bay of Fundy Herring Industry who in a statement proposed a compromise of lowering their quota to 25,000 tonnes from 35,000 tonnes for the 2022 season.
DFOs’ move towards a quota is motivated by their desire to get herring stocks out of the critical zone.
The commercial herring fishery opens in Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy in June.
Concerns for lobster fishermen
Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray closed the bait fisheries for both mackerel and herring in March.
Prior to that decision mackerel was the most popular bait amongst lobster fishermen, followed by herring.
Should the new quota come to pass, lobster fishermen will have even fewer options with commercial herring operators reducing the amount of fish they bring in.
A map showing herring spawning locations around Nova Scotia. Photo: DFO
“Fishermen will be left with no options other than buying from European or American markets, and that’s if the DFO allows those products in,” said Fisheries critic and South Shore St.Margaret’s MP Rick Perkins. “What’s worse is many of the mackeral and herring are part of transboundary stocks, which means the Americans can keep fishing and then potentially sell fish to our fishermen that they could have caught themselves.”
Perkins worries that lobster fishermen are in for a rough season, should the quota go through as increasing bait costs while they continue to deal with surging fuel prices will result in record-high prices.
“Lobster fishermen aren’t just going to eat all these extra costs so ultimately the burden will get passed onto the consumer, and lobster prices were already at a record high this year,” Perkins said.
Perkins says lobster fishermen are currently busy fishing so few have had the chance to speak with government officials about their concerns.
He also says most of them are using bait they caught or purchased last year that has been frozen, meaning any potential issues caused by the proposed quota won’t be fully known until next year when bait stockpiles start running out.
DFO has said they expect a decision to be finalized in the coming weeks.
