I refer to the excellent article by Barb Dean-Simmons, “Atlantic cod plan unveiled,” in the Dec. 24th issue of The Telegram.
I would like to support in full the comments of Alberto Wareham of Icewater Seafoods in Arnold’s Cove in that article on the need for a cautious approach with regard to any increase in northern cod quotas.
His position reminds me of the forward-looking approach taken by such pioneering, conservation-minded inshore leaders as the late Tom Best of Petty Harbour and the late Martin O’Brien of Bay Bulls, not to mention Capt. Wilfred Bartlett of Brighton, Norte Dame Bay, who continues to this day, in the fight they all fought so tenaciously as members of Newfoundland Inshore Fisheries Association in the late 1980s and early ’90s to save the northern cod from the offshore draggers.
Draggers, large or small, with their bottom-scraping and seabed ecosystem-destroying mobile gear should not be part of the northern cod fishery of the future.
Wareham’s comments about the need to ensure that our fishing methods meet the approval of such international conservation groups such as the Marine Stewardship Council are spot on, otherwise many like-minded customers will not be eager to buy cod from a poorly managed stock.
And to that debate, I would add that we should use only passive gears in the northern cod fishery of the future, such as cod pots, hook and line, gill nets (with as short a soak time as practicable) and traps (suitably brought up to date).
Draggers, large or small, with their bottom-scraping and seabed ecosystem-destroying mobile gear should not be part of the northern cod fishery of the future. Many customers for our cod want to save, not just the cod stocks, but also the marine ecosystem generally.
It has taken quite a while, but the time has finally come to show the world that a major, profitable “dragger free” cod fishery is attainable.
Our inshore fishery is now a sophisticated sector, manned by innovative crews, and in our Marine Institute we have the technological team with the ability to help make this a reality.
All in parallel, of course, with a go slow approach to any increase in northern cod quotas.
Cabot Martin
St. John’s
