On January 26, we witnessed from the fishing capital of Quebec the announcement of a plan which signals the death of the fishing industry in Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Stunned by this plan, the fishermen accused this stab, too stunned to react immediately. It must be said that this plan contrasts with the discussions that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Diane Lebouthillier, had with fishermen, associations and processors in recent months.
Fishing and resource exploitation must be done responsibly. However, this plan proposes a vision that breaks with the values put forward by Canada’s Liberal Minister of Fisheries, Roméo LeBlanc, and then by his son, Dominic LeBlanc, also Minister of Fisheries. Both took care to protect coastal fishermen and the St. Lawrence. Roméo LeBlanc must be turning in his grave today and Dominic, in all his states.
Scientists have been sounding the alarm for more than ten years. Even those at Fisheries and Oceans Canada now judge that “the situation is serious”. They have also produced a scientific opinion which is concerned about the increase in the stock of redfish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and its effects on other species, such as shrimp, turbo and halibut, among others. . There are so many redfish that the species can’t even grow anymore. They cannibalize each other and start ending up in the stomachs of other predators.
The opening of commercial redfish fishing decreed by the minister was therefore eagerly awaited, and has been for several years. We are, however, concerned about the distribution of the resource, with companies receiving nearly 60% of the quotas. We go back 40 years in the blink of an eye!
And then, there are so many redfish these days that the quotas set by the minister will be reached in one fishing trip. It will be sad to watch other species disappear because we will not have listened to science and will have preferred to please a handful of large companies owned by a handful of shareholders. Because the minister’s announcement effectively gives factory boats the right to fish in the Gulf again. Yes, these same boats of more than 100 feet once banned by the Government of Canada under the leadership of LeBlanc, in 1977.
These famous boats do not bring any vitality to coastal communities, they are slowly destroying them just as they are destroying the work of the fishermen-owners. In 2024, shouldn’t the first objective of the Minister of Fisheries be to protect smaller boats, which ensure the sustainability of Quebec’s coastal communities?
Too late, for too little
In addition, the lifting of the moratorium comes too late, for too little. However, we have worked on resource management plans for all affected fisheries. The ecosystem approach proposed by the industry since 2012 and still defended by it today would have made it possible to study the impact of the moratorium on all species, not to analyze the problem in isolation, but in such a way as to encompass all what is happening in the St. Lawrence.
The turbo disappeared, the shrimp absent, the migration of the crab, the warming of the water, the reduction of oxygen in the water, the incalculable presence of lobsters and the redfish representing 90% of what we find in the gulf … This list should read like so many alarm signals. Are Quebec fish and seafood set to disappear from Quebecers’ plates?
The Government of Canada’s inaction in this matter is deplorable and could lead fishing companies to bankruptcy, dragging down several other related businesses in their wake. What will the minister do then? Should we consider her guilty of this massacre orchestrated by the federal government?
His transition plan has no future. It favors big businesses and the political apparatus to the detriment of a transition plan that would favor coastal communities and guarantee food sovereignty in Quebec and Canada.
Can we really stand by and do nothing while our St. Lawrence, its coastal areas, its communities and its businesses are in danger?