The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, called on Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Sunday to allow squid fishing to compensate for the drop in fall herring quotas, announced a few days earlier.
On Friday, Minister Joyce Murray indicated in a press release that the total allowable fall herring catch in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence would be reduced from 12,000 to 10,000 tonnes to preserve its population. According to a 2022 assessment by the ministry’s Center for Science Advice, this species is experiencing “current conditions of high natural mortality, declining weight-at-age, and low recruitment”, and the number of individuals “has declined over the of the last decade”.
Fishermen are left without notice in an economic situation that makes no sense for them, in a sector that is already weakened
Mr. Blanchet did not necessarily say he was against lowering quotas, as long as scientific data justified the decision. But he strongly criticized the treatment of pelagic fishermen who relied on this resource. “We leave fishermen without notice in an economic situation that makes no sense for them, in a sector that is already weakened, he said in a telephone interview. With the reduction in quotas, fishermen will not get their money back. »
According to him, granting squid fishing licenses to companies affected by the quotas would offer them another solution “which uses equipment they already have and which has a domestic Quebec market which would consume all” of the products, in addition to not almost nothing to cost the government and not to endanger biodiversity.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada defended by email “a well-balanced approach: giving the fall herring stock a better opportunity to recover while seeking to minimize the impact on the fishers and plant workers who depend on them”.
“We know that the pressures on this stock are not only caused by fishing and that the natural mortality rate is high,” he said. This is why the Minister has decided to proceed with the development of a recovery plan in advance, in order to identify the probable causes of the decline of the stock, set measurable objectives for recovery and implement management measures. to achieve its objectives. »
The department said it was aware “of the desire of certain stakeholders to restart squid fishing in Quebec” and recalled that it had “implemented new management measures in recent years to allow a gradual resumption of activities”, which are currently reserved for permit holders, pending more “scientific data on the state of the resource”.
Fishing prohibited
This is not the first time this year that pelagic fishermen have been left wanting. Minister Murray announced last March that spring mackerel and herring — a different stock than the fall stock — could not be fished at all in 2022 in the southern Gulf of St. the population to regenerate.
Spring herring are more at risk than fall herring, with the Center for Science Advice report noting that “even in the absence of catches, stocks are likely to remain in the critical zone by 2027”.
“Already, these are peaches that are not overabundant or extremely lucrative, and there, in the spring, they were told with two days’ notice: ‘you are not fishing'”, lamented Mr. Blanchet, asking for more greater transparency of data and earlier communication.
On August 11, before the fall quota cuts were announced, he sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau proposing the squid solution. “We had no response from the Prime Minister’s Office, he said in an interview, we had no acknowledgment of receipt. »