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Overfishing
Newfoundland and Labrador "Revived" Caplin Fishery
By Myles Higgins
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Once again the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are sitting by while the federal government knowingly and willingly encourages the destruction of our fisheries and way of life.
It's clear from DFO's handling of the caplin fishery that they are more than happy to act with short term interests in mind by placating fishermen (voters), rather than focusing on the long term objective of saving a dying industry.
The feds, through the actions of DFO, aren't the only ones with tunnel vision when it comes to our fishery. There's more than enough blame to go around and the fishermen and processors in this province need to shoulder a good chunk of that responsibility as well.
Sometimes I wonder who our worst enemy truly is, our politicians or us.
This summer the commercial caplin fishery is taking larger catches than at any time in recent years in spite of warnings that the health of the stocks may be less stable than it appears.
While caplin has always been caught in Newfoundland and Labrador the mainstay of the economy here for centuries was the cod fishery. Years ago it was noted by fishermen and researchers alike that caplin (a key component of a cod's diet) went into a severe decline at around the same time as the cod stocks collapsed in the late 80s and early 90s, throwing thousands of people out of work and leading to the massive out migration we see today.
Nobody really understands all the reasons for the decline of the cod, but it doesn't take a leap of logic to suspect that the limited availability of this key food source was an important factor.
Though overfishing by foreign and local fishermen was likely the biggest culprit, there's little doubt that a limited food supply was a contributor. Like any species, when its food source disappeared so did the cod.
Fast forward 15 or 20 years and we see our province's population dwindling. With caplin stocks on the rise you might think DFO would limit the catch in the hope of helping to rebuild this vital link in the food chain, increase cod recovery and perhaps one day see an end to a 2-year moratorium that's been in effect for 15 with no end in sight.
Of course they aren't doing that.
Instead of letting the caplin stocks rebuild and stabalize fishermen are grabbing what they can to sell on the lucrative Japanese market with no thought about their future. The fishermen and processors are looking for a quick buck and Ottawa is once again navel gazing by letting it happen.
Though there has continued to be a commercial caplin fishery since the moratorium came into effect, according to reports, those catches were nothing compared to the activity taking place this year. Not by a long shot. In fact one fisherman recently said he hadn't seen catches like this in 20 years. Interestingly, at just about the same time the cod started to vanish.
Thanks to political opportunism and commercial greed fish stocks are being used once again to satisfy short-term commercial interests and curry votes while the long term future of the industry and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are left to pay the ultimate price
Myles Higgins is freelance columnist, who lives with his wife and a terminally lazy Terrier named "Molson" in the beautiful town of Portugal Cove - St. Philips, His website can be found at: Web Talk - Newfoundland and Labrador. Myles can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com
