There is not enough scientific evidence to support a change in the allocation of fall herring to the seiner fleet, says Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development Minister Neil LeClair.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced that the seiner fleet will be allowed to retain up to 5,000 metric tonnes of fall herring caught during the spring season in an area of the Laurentian Channel north of the Magdalen Islands. The decision was made based on a limited fishery in 2010 in which only 302 tonnes were landed.
“We need more scientific evidence to support an expansion of the fishery of this size in the southern Gulf,” said Mr. LeClair. “To allow a new experimental fishery at a time when inshore fishers are only able to land less than 60 percent of their quota may jeopardize the health of already depressed herring stocks even more.”
Mr. LeClair said that the spring herring stocks are depressed and only support a 2,000 tonne fishery at the present time. He said that even with 100 percent observer coverage on the seiners, along with dockside and vessel monitoring, there is a risk of impacting components of the stock of both spring and fall herring that are migrating back into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
“The seiner fleet is permitted a certain level of fall herring, and I am concerned that allowing them to catch part of their allocation in the spring time will put the spring herring stocks at great risk and could impact fall herring stocks destined for Prince Edward Island,” said Mr. LeClair. “I am asking the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to reconsider this ill-advised decision.”