CLOSURE OF THE COD FISHERIES AND ACTION PLAN TO ASSIST AFFECTED INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES
On April 24, 2003, the Government of Canada announced the closure of three cod stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and northeast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Recent scientific assessments of the stocks determined they are at historically low levels and show no signs of imminent recovery despite a decade of severe conservation measures.
The Government of Canada also outlined a $50-million four-part action plan to assist individuals and communities which will be most affected by the closure and to expand scientific research into the serious decline of these stocks:
- community-based economic development assistance - a two-year $44 million investment through the programming of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and Canada Economic Development - Quebec (CEDQ) to provide assistance for short-term job creation. Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) will assist affected individuals and businesses by offering programming under the Employment Benefits and Support Measures (in Quebec and New Brunswick, similar measures are delivered by the province);
- increasing the sustainability of local economies - the Government of Canada will work with stakeholder groups and with provincial governments to determine by the fall of 2003 what further measures will be required for a comprehensive approach to strengthening the sustainability of local economies, and diversifying the economic base of communities;
- conservation measures - including the creation of seal exclusion zones, no trawling zones, the closure of the recreational cod fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and northeast of Newfoundland and Labrador, and, for the next three years, a 40 per cent reduction in the total allowable catch of capelin, an important food source for cod; and
- scientific research - a two-year $6 million program to expand on current activities to evaluate and assess the impact of seals on fish stocks.
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