According to DFO the fish harvesters in the Coast of Bays have recommended an increase in the 2008 to 2009 cod quota in area 11 of 3Ps from 13,000 to 14,500 metric tones. The DFO officials are in process with fish harvesters to obtain their recommendations for the 2008-2009 cod fishery in 3ps, which runs from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009.
Kim Penney, a staff officer with Resource Management with DFO, said the meeting with the harvesters was a part of DFO’s advisory process to go over harvesting plans for the new year’s fishery. She informed that the meeting is a discussion between fish harvesters and DFO officials about next year’s harvesting plan.
George Feltham, the vice-president of the inshore sector with the FFAW/CAW, said that such meetings provide an opportunity for harvesters to put their opinions forward on stock assessment and the stock management of the future. He feels that the industry could absorb a cod increase in the upcoming fishery.
The local fishermen said there is a good, stable picture coming out of 3Ps with regards to the cod stocks. They feel that an increase in the TAC is not an unreasonable request at this point in time. But the DFO scientists still take a cautionary approach to the cod stocks, fish harvesters feel that the scientists are restricted in their surveys due to lack of funding and the amount of time they put into it.
John Brattey, a research scientist with DFO, said the main concern at the moment is the lower number of young fish coming into the stock. But the final decision regarding the TAC for the 2008-2009 cod fishery in 3Ps rests in the hands of the Honourable Loyola Hearn, the Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in March.
