The decision by Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Robert Thibault to close what was left of the Newfoundland cod fishery has left provincial officials questioning their future relationship with the federal government.
Thibault’s action in late April also left hundreds of fishermen and fish plant workers wondering how they’re going to put food on the table and keep a roof over their families.
In the weeks following the Fisheries Minister’s decision, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) offices in Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec were occupied by fishermen, and there were numerous demonstrations, many led by Newfoundland/Labrador Premier Roger Grimes himself.
On May 14 the provincial House of Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution seeking the renegotiation of the Terms of Union, by which Newfoundland joined the Canadian confederation in 1949. Specifically, the resolution called for co-management of the fishery.
The resolution blamed federal policies for the collapse of the fishery: “And whereas federal management of seacoast fisheries since 1949 has failed to adequately protect or develop the principal fisheries adjacent to Newfoundland and Labrador; And whereas failed federal fisheries management has led to the complete collapse of the Northern Cod fishery and other ground fish stocks, the basis for Newfoundland’s colonization and the mainstay of its economy for 500 years …”
Grimes had earlier said that the provincial government would support any fisherman who defied the closure, but he subsequently backed down from that decision.
“Right now, [the fishermen are] being patient, but I don’t know how long that can last,” said Earle McCurdy, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers. “People here are really hurting.
On May 16, McCurdy also called on Ottawa to establish a fisheries co-management policy.
In a letter to Thibault, McCurdy said: “It seems to me there are two possible courses of action. One is for each of us to maintain a hard line position, thereby reinforcing the volatility that currently exists in the affected communities. The other alternative is to put meaning to the principles stated in the Atlantic Fisheries Policy Review and establish a co-management approach to these stocks. This would include compilation and analysis of last year’s commercial catch rate data, as well as development of an ongoing data collection process by inshore fishing enterprises that would further our understanding of the state of these respective stocks. An immediate step would be to put in place arrangements for joint analysis of last year’s commercial catch rate data as soon as it is processed. This new information could be the basis for resolving the present stalemate.”
McCurdy also said that “it has been obvious from the unprecedented level of protests and public demonstrations of the past three weeks that the Minister’s decision simply will not fly with the people who have traditionally fished this stock and who issued strong warnings to DFO scientists nearly 15 years ago of problems which the scientists’ methods failed to identify.”
He added, “Continued conflict on this issue serves nobody’s interest. We believe a co-management approach that would include limited and strictly controlled fishing makes a lot more sense. The fighting has lasted for several weeks. The challenge is to find a solution. We believe the co-management approach offers just that.”
McCurdy says he thinks that Thibault and Prime Minister Jean Chretien underestimated the strength of the provincial response.
“They thought it would peter out, but it hasn’t,” McCurdy said. “It’s a much bigger issue than DFO anticipated. The protest movement is still very strong, and there’s no sign of it dying down any time soon. The provincial legislature is calling for joint management, and the federal [Members of Parliament (M.P.s)] are openly challenging their own leadership. Yesterday [May 13] Quebec joined the protest.”
Meanwhile, the federal M.P.s who had threatened to bolt from the Liberal Party over the cod closure met with Cabinet Ministers in Ottawa on May 14 to talk about compensation for the fishermen and fish processing workers affected. They came away slightly mollified and optimistic, according to M.P. John Efford, himself a former provincial Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture who has been highly critical of federal fisheries management practices.
Another FFAW official, Inshore Director David Decker, said that small-boat fishermen are tired of being painted “villains.”
“These are the same people who were told in the 1980s by DFO that their problem was they needed to change their gear type and to go out and get better and faster technology,” Decker said.
In announcing the closure in St. John’s Newfoundland, on April 24, Thibault said that it was a “difficult decision” and that the closure was is for “commercial and recreational fishing for the coast of Labrador, eastern Newfoundland, western Newfoundland, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.”
He added, “This will be of long duration. And it’s only the first step toward restoration of the northern cod stocks.”
Thibault also announced a $50 million aid package that was denounced as inadequate by fishermen and provincial officials alike.
According to FFAW statistics, the cod fishery closure will affect 2,827 cod license holders, 7,500 harvesters in total, including crewmembers in the area where harvesting has been closed.
In the latter category, 2,500 of them depend on cod for over 25 percent of their income, many depending on it for more than 50 percent. The remaining 5,000 harvesters depend on cod for up to 25 percent of income.
McCurdy adds that in the area of processing, there will be 750 direct jobs hit – “400 lost, while another 350 won’t qualify for Employment Insurance. Another 1,100 plant workers will lose income as a result of less work and less E.I.”
He also says that the closure decision contradicts DFO’s own policy statements and adds that a co-management approach would also be consistent with the “shared stewardship” principle of DFO’s Atlantic Fisheries Policy Review, which commits the government of Canada “to the promotion of vibrant communities, based on sustainable resource use, in which citizens make informed decisions about their own future … Fisheries and Oceans Canada believes that enabling resource users and others to play a greater role in decision making, and thus to take greater responsibility for resource management decisions and their outcomes, will further a conservation ethic and enable stakeholders to take greater control of their economies and social well-being.”
Illustration from Bigelow and Schroeder’s Fishes of the Gulf of Maine.