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Cod Recovery, NAFO Issues Dominate Minister’s First Visit
St. John’s -- The long term recovery of cod stocks and strengthening Canada’s Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) program became the focus of the first visit to Newfoundland and Labrador by the Honourable Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
The Minister, who accompanied a DFO surveillance flight to the 200-mile limit on Monday, noted that there are no ready-made solutions to the problem of foreign non-compliance, but made a firm commitment to enhance Canada’s NAFO program as a first step.
“I believe that we must improve NAFO and increase Canada’s enforcement capacity in NAFO. Certainly the recent ratification of the United Nations Fish Agreement (UNFA) by the European Union gives us an important new tool to achieve that goal. I have directed officials to build on existing operational plans. This would include an increased at-sea patrol presence in the NAFO Regulatory Area,” said Minister Regan. “I will announce details of the strategy in the near future.”
The progress to date by the Canada-Newfoundland Cod Recovery Team was discussed throughout the two-day visit with both the provincial Minister and industry stakeholders.
“I am very encouraged by the new Federal-Provincial initiatives related to cod recovery and look forward to seeing the results of this collaboration in the development of long term strategies,” said Minister Regan.
The visit provided the Minister with an opportunity to discuss the importance of the cod fishery to Newfoundland and Labrador with those who may be affected by future management decisions. The need to make these decisions in the context of the long term cod recovery objectives was at the centre of these discussions.
“There is general consensus that, given the extremely low level abundance of the Northern Cod stock, it is highly unlikely that this fishery can be re-opened this year. I have asked officials to work on more practical bycatch rules to enable fishers to prosecute other fisheries,” said Minister Regan.
“With regard to Northern Gulf cod, I am very interested in hearing people’s views. However, until all sources of data are available, it is too soon to discuss decisions concerning possible re-opening of this fishery,” said Minister Regan.
Overall, the Minister was pleased with the results of the visit. “I was glad to be able to meet with Minister Trevor Taylor early in our respective mandates,” stated Minister Regan. “This visit has been very productive and has allowed me to listen directly to the concerns of harvesters, processors and stakeholder groups. I believe the groundwork has been laid for continued co-operation on a number of challenging issues facing Newfoundland and Labrador.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Brian Underhill
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ph: (613) 992-3474
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