Are Newfoundland cod stocks recovering? Fishermen claim that they are and cite new federal survey reports as evidence. A federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) scientist says that such optimism is premature and that the recent reports are “indices” not “assessments.”
But Dave Decker, secretary-treasurer of the Fish Food and Allied Workers, counters that a year ago DFO scientists used equally early reports to declare that the cod fishery was in trouble.
He pointed to one DFO survey report for 4RS3Pn (basically the Newfoundland west coast) that showed a 500 percent increase. “We knew last year that the stock was in a lot better shape than what was being put forward by DFO science,” Decker said. “The unfortunate thing here is that thousands of fish harvesters, plant workers, their families and communities have had a fishery closed on them for no reason and they have suffered from the consequences of that decision.”
However, Alain Frechet, senior DFO cod assessment biologist for the Quebec Region, said that the survey cited by Decker is only one of four and that other surveys are not as positive. He emphasized repeatedly that these reports are indices and that a full assessment won’t be completed until spring 2004.
Frechet also cautioned that the same survey shows that the cod in the sample are “recruitment” fish. “The bulk of these catches were less than 50 centimeters long,” he said. “These were very small fish and not the type being caught in the commercial fishery.”
Decker disagreed. “As I reflect on it, the biomass estimate in 2002 was down 26 percent, and Fisheries and Oceans was talking about a significant decline,” he said. “Now we have a positive survey from the same vessel in the same area. I’m not saying there’s no recruitment this year. There’s lots of recruitment, just as there was recruitment last year, too, the same sized fish that prompted Fisheries and Oceans to say the fishery was in bad shape.”
He continued, “Any way you want to twist it, [DFO] Science wants to paint a negative picture.”
According to Frechet, the survey involves 21 area fishermen. “Two or three times a week they do their thing, reporting catch and effort and measuring the fish that are taken for samples. We’ll continue right up to December.” He also said that the samples are taken both by gillnetting and longlining.
He added, “You have to remember that cod are a highly migratory stock. Every fall they move out of the Gulf and have to go through Cabot Strait. That could account for a lot of the reported increase.”
Frechet concluded, “I think this is a matter of perspective, and I can’t emphasize enough that this is a recruitment survey.”
Decker acknowledged that not all the information is in but said that there have also been other surveys showing positive results, including an ongoing sentinel fishery. “Information has been very positive in terms of the distribution, size, mixture of year classes, health and recruitment of cod,” he said. “Not only have the fish been healthy, but the numbers of very large fish – over three feet in length – are increasing and of course this is very important to the future of the stock. Distribution along the coast is very good. It’s not spotty; it’s widely distributed throughout the area.”
He added, “This is not to say that the stock isn’t as healthy as it could be, but clearly it is growing. I’m not sure, though, that DFO understands that there has to be a connection between the community and the fishery, and that people have a sense of ownership of the fishery and have a sense of balance between stock growth and having a fishery. After all, without the community, what’s the sense of protecting the fishery? We’re confident that we will get this fishery re-opened.”