Retired inshore fisherman John Hedderson has been watching and wondering about cod for most of his 81 years. He’s also learned about the fish from his father and grandfathers, but his knowledge is considered ‘anecdotal’ by scientists. Hedderson himself had fished for more than 30 years by the time the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) took control in 1977.
The main issue is the failure of science and management to understand and protect the cod stocks and the growing divide between fishermen and the government body that’s supposed to help them is the subject. DFO recently released its cod stock estimates for northern cod, which it classifies as cod inhabiting management areas 2J3KL. But for Hedderson there’s no one large cod stock, but many – he can name at least two cod populations which pass through little Noddy Bay alone.
He told that the Western fish were thicker, wider and darker. One would get herring come through, then capelin and then in mid-July here they comes and for about a week it’s nothing but western cod. Hedderson watches for the running of food fish, like capelin and herring, bycatch in other gear, and talks to his fisherman son, Dwight, about location and quantity of cod – then he sorts that information using his experience on the water and knowledge passed down from his ancestors.
Hedderson said that he is interested in science, some is good and some you can’t trust. But he think there’s enough cod for a small trap fishery. DFO, meanwhile, argues there isn’t enough for an expanded inshore fishery. DFO research scientist John Brattey mentioned that both of them agreed the trend is going up, the difference is just how much is out there and how high it is relative to historical levels.
DFO’s recently released cod assessment pegged the ‘northern stock’ at eight per cent of what it was during the 1980s, up seven per cent from its level in 1992. DFO gathers its information differently than Hedderson – they have five main sources of information which they compare against historical trends.
More attention should be paid to a scientific discussion that pays more attention and respect to the particular and focused knowledge of the inshore fishermen. Inshore fishermen were warning about ‘mother fish’, draggers, gillnets and the dangers of taking massive amounts of fish from the offshore while DFO was allowing it all – maybe there’s still more they can teach.
