Scientists question Ottawa more than doubling cod catch in Newfoundland and Labrador
Noel Cadigan modelled the northern cod stock for years as a scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He said the move to hike catch limits this year doesn't line up with the precautionary management approach the department says it has adopted for the stock.
'It is not easy to reduce these quotas again,' the associate professor at Memorial University's Marine Institute said Thursday. 'You want to be sure that these increases are going to be sustainable over the medium term.'
'I don't see evidence for that,' he added.
Federal fisheries minister Joanne Thompson announced Wednesday that the total allowable catch for the commercial northern cod fishery off Newfoundland and Labrador's east coast would be 38,000 tonnes this year. That's up from 18,000 tonnes in 2024.
For centuries, the northern cod fishery was the backbone of Newfoundland and Labrador's fishing sector and rural economy. But the stock began to collapse and in 1992, the federal government imposed a moratorium on the fishery.
The move resulted in one of the largest mass layoffs in Canadian history.
Ottawa lifted the 32-year-old moratorium last year, drawing criticism from some scientists who say the stock is still trying to recover.
The Fisheries Department's northern cod stock assessment earlier this year was much rosier than the last. It included revised estimates of the stock size and the threshold at which it would struggle to survive.
The chance the stock is above that threshold is greater than 99 per cent, it said. The department has not yet determined a threshold at which the stock would be considered healthy.
If the stock falls between the goalposts for struggling and healthy, it is considered to be in the 'cautious' zone. Cadigan noted that according to the department's own guidelines, 'fishing must be progressively reduced' on stocks in that zone.
The assessment also said there was a moderate to moderately high chance the stock would decline in the next few years, even if it wasn't fished. Cadigan said Thompson seems to be 'gambling' on that not happening.
Tyler Eddy, a Marine Institute research scientist, said the assessment also predicted if fishing levels were doubled this year, there was just a four per cent chance the stock would fall back down past the threshold at which it was threatened by 2026.
But Cadigan said the point should be to avoid that precipice at all costs.
Monday Mornings
The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week.
'You're talking about a small risk of a disaster,' he said.
Sherrylynn Rowe, also a Marine Institute research scientist, said the data in the latest stock assessment made Thompson's decision surprising. The Fisheries Department's press release Wednesday said the stock has been stable since 2017. Rowe said that also means it hasn't shown any significant growth.
However, she said officials are under a lot of pressure from the local fishing industry to increase quotas and catches. From that perspective, the minister's decision isn't quite as shocking, she said.
'This is a challenge in Canada,' she said in an interview. 'Within the Department of Fisheries, they have a dual mandate to both protect oceans and fish stocks, but also promote fisheries … It's not always clear how the various objectives are weighted when they make these types of decisions.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Montreal Gazette
2 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Opinion: Will the Supreme Court throw Legault a lifeline?
Op Eds A decision from the Supreme Court this fall could potentially reshape Quebec and Canadian politics for years to come. It could also be the political lifeline François Legault was secretly praying for. Canada's top court has announced it will begin public hearings on the legal challenge to Bill 21 in September. A record 38 groups are to testify before the justices, most of them publicly opposed to Quebec's secularism law. With his Coalition Avenir Québec trailing far behind in the polls, Legault couldn't have wished for better timing. The clock is ticking on next fall's general election, and he desperately needs a drastic shift in public opinion. It's unlikely the cabinet shuffle he promised at the beginning of summer will be enough to revive his government's fortunes. He needs much more than that. A constitutional showdown with Ottawa could be the catalyst Legault is looking for. A strong majority of Quebecers support the principle of separating state and religions. This debate has been simmering for over two decades now — remember Hérouxville, Bouchard-Taylor and the 'reasonable accommodations' crisis under Jean Charest? For many voters, especially francophones, secularism has become over the years a fundamental, non-negotiable value. When it was first adopted in 2019, Bill 21 was supported by nearly two-thirds of Quebecers. If the Supreme Court rules against it, the backlash could be fierce — and Legault may try to harness the public's anger to his advantage. In his position, a smart move might be to call a snap general election, asking for a strong mandate to defend Quebec's core values and fight for the right to legislate without federal interference. At this stage, it could be his last remaining wild card — both to save face and to salvage his party's future. At the heart of the case lies an important legal question: Can a province invoke pre-emptively Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — the so-called 'notwithstanding clause' — in order to shield legislation from future court challenges? But the clause exists for a good reason. As former Quebec minister and respected constitutional scholar Benoît Pelletier once wrote: 'Contrary to what some have argued, the notwithstanding power does not undermine the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Rather, it is part of it. It is intended to ensure that collective interests are fairly taken into account.' A ruling against Bill 21 could spark a constitutional crisis the likes of which Canada hasn't seen since the failure of the Meech Lake Accord 35 years ago. For many Quebecers, it would be seen as blatant and abusive federal overreach into the province's internal affairs — a move that could even reignite debates over Quebec's place in Canada and bolster support for sovereignty. Aside from Legault, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is likely watching with anticipation. A nationalist surge in response to the court's ruling could benefit both the CAQ and PQ — potentially at the expense of Pablo Rodriguez's Quebec Liberal Party. So it seems the Supreme Court is walking a political tightrope. There's reason to be wary when unelected judges appear poised to tell millions of people — and their democratically elected National Assembly — that they are wrong on an issue as emotionally, historically and culturally charged as secularism in Quebec — a society which, even 60 years after the Quiet Revolution, still bears the scars of centuries of domination by the then all-powerful Catholic Church. If nationalists play their cards right, the consequences of this ruling could extend far beyond the specific legal question, potentially pushing more Quebecers to seek greater autonomy or even independence from the rest of country. With just a year to go before the next provincial election, the Supreme Court's decision could prove to be a major — and risky — political turning point. The stakes are high, and Canada's unity now rests in the hands of its nine Justices.
National Observer
3 hours ago
- National Observer
How Bill C-5 adopted the language of Canada's Conservatives
In June, as Bill C-5 wound through parliament and talk of nation-building projects rose to national prominence, so did the voices of Indigenous leaders concerned by the lack of consultation. By no coincidence, June also marked a record spike in mentions of one particular term in Canadian news: 'economic reconciliation.' It's a loaded term with a range of implications, depending on the speaker. For proponents of C-5, 'economic reconciliation' encompasses Indigenous consultation, partnership and a share in the jobs and profits generated by new industrial projects under the new bill. 'Indigenous peoples are not just participants in our economy. They are rights holders. They are the original stewards of this land,' Energy Minister Tim Hodgson told the Toronto Regional Board of Trade on June 25, the day before C-5 received Royal Assent. 'If we are serious about retooling our economy, then economic reconciliation must be front and centre.' But for critics, 'economic reconciliation' is a dangerous twist on a familiar term, deployed by politicians and industry to justify a power grab. 'Economic reconciliation stalls true reconciliation,' ran the June 17 headline of an emblematic critique by Melissa Dupuis, an Innu activist and campaigner for the David Suzuki no doubt be hearing less about reconciliation and more about economic reconciliation,' Dupuis wrote,'the same threat that for years has translated to, 'Either you sign and you'll get money, or you don't sign, you get nothing, and we'll do it anyway.'' In the eye of the beholder For all its volatility, the term seems irresistible to some politicians. Conservatives — both provincial and federal — have taken a particular shine to it. For proponents of Bill C-5, "economic reconciliation" encompasses Indigenous consultation. But critics see it as a dangerous twist on a familiar term, to be deployed by politicians and industry to justify a power grab, Arno Kopecky writes. In 2018, Andrew Scheer — then leader of the federal Conservatives — began invoking 'economic reconciliation' on a regular basis, and it made it into subsequent leader Erin O'Toole's 2019 election platform. In BC's 2024 election, Conservative leader John Rustad's platform didn't mention 'reconciliation' on its own — just 'economic reconciliation.' The same was true of Pierre Poilievre's platform in this year's federal election. Since then, Doug Ford has repeatedly emphasized the importance of economic reconciliation in his efforts to gain First Nations support for mining in Ontario's Ring of Fire region. Mark Carney and his officials are also happy to invoke 'economic reconciliation.' But while Carney's election platform did mention it twice, it also discussed reconciliation five other times without that modifier. In the Liberals' platform, reconciliation means everything from funding Indigenous-led conservation and supporting the search for unmarked graves at residential schools to implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action. That's a far more holistic view of reconciliation than Conservatives tend to articulate. But when it comes to Bill C-5 and the current push for nation-building projects, that word 'economic' has an undeniable bipartisan appeal. By the time the bill passed at the end of June, Carney's Liberal government appeared to realize the risk it was running in alienating Indigenous leaders. It was then that Mandy Gull-Masty, the Cree Minister of Indigenous Services Canada, told reporters the prime minister would host an 'engagement session' with First Nations leaders from across the country in July. Striking a conciliatory note, Gull-Masty said it was up to Indigenous communities to set the terms. The government, she said, wanted to know: 'What does economic reconciliation mean to you?' 'Looks like marketing' Unsurprisingly, it depends who you ask. 'The concern with this focus on economic reconciliation is that it's reductive. It reduces [reconciliation] to a matter of dollars and cents,' says Bruce McIvor, a Metís lawyer and partner at First Peoples Law LLP. There are times when the consequences of a particular industrial proposal outweigh the benefits. 'It's not just about the money — it's about protecting the water and lands for future generations,' he says. Framing a proposal entirely in financial terms 'has the real potential to lead to a consequence where the government says: 'First Nation, we offered you economic reconciliation, you turned down the equity deal, so now you're just being obstructionist. You're standing in the way of the national interest, and we're going to push this project through. … I think a lot of non-Indigenous people will be receptive to that or to that argument.' That concern is shared by chief Joe and many other Indigenous leaders across Canada who have been promoting 'economic reconciliation' for years. 'I get cringy when it looks performative, it looks like marketing,' says John Desjarlais, the Métis director of the Indigenous Resource Network [IRN]. The IRN is a pro-industry group that advocates for Indigenous involvement in resource extraction, and Desjarlais has come out in support of Bill C-5. But in conversation with Canada's National Observer, he tempered that support with a cautionary note that acknowledged the tricky position Indigenous leaders across Canada now find themselves in: wanting to advance development and create wealth for their communities, yet wary of industry taking advantage of the general haste to cut unfair deals and evade environmental oversight. 'We knew we're going to be walking a tough line,' Desjarlais said. 'Expediency is possible, if there's a relationship built on mutual trust and respect. But the flip side of that is, if there is a nation that has done their due diligence and they say no, we need to respect that.' Dawn Leach, chair of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board, agrees. The board has produced multiple reports advocating for economic reconciliation; according to Leach, the term grew out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Call To Action #92, on Business and Reconciliation, which 'call(s) upon the corporate sector in Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework.' Leach has dedicated much of her career to improving economic conditions for Indigenous communities, but she's wary of efforts to do so that bypass Indigenous involvement — like the crafting of Bbill C-5.. 'They want to expedite the process, and we do too,' Leach told Canada's National Observer. 'But we need to be brought in at the beginning of the process. After the election, everything took place without our people at the table.' Leach is skeptical of proponents of Bill C-5 who invoke economic reconciliation — 'it's something that's in place now to appease us' — but she doesn't feel it's too late for Carney to correct course. 'I think we can get back on track, but it's got to be really meaningful going forward from here. You can't have meetings without us.' Should that happen, Leach warned, 'that's where all the problems start. That's where all the court cases will happen.' A best case scenario? If you ask Leanne Joe, a hereditary chief with the Squamish nation, there are as many interpretations of 'economic reconciliation' as there are Indigenous communities. Chief Joe is a co-author of ' Step Into The River: A Framework for Economic Reconciliation,' a 180-page guide to this concept, published by Simon Fraser University in 2022. 'To me, it is decolonizing well-being and wealth, and looking at it from an Indigenous world view,' she said. 'My son is not wealthy because he has one dollar more in his bank account than you or I. He is wealthy because he can get out on the land, he can hunt, he can fish, he can gather, he understands place names, he understands landmarks, he understands his origin stories.' Chief Joe doesn't deny that money plays a huge role in First Nations' well-being, but even here she challenges the notion that politicians can simply cut Indigenous communities into the profits. 'It's not just about having a seat at the economic table,' she says. 'We already have that. I need to transform the table.' Asked what exactly she means by that, she doesn't hesitate: 'Let's go with the obvious: Land back, cash back. Let's begin there.' One standout example she cites is Sen̓áḵw, a huge development project in the heart of Vancouver owned by the Squamish nation. Sen̓áḵw was the original name of a seaside village the Squamish nation occupied long before Europeans arrived; in 1913, the BC government burned the village to the ground and forced its inhabitants onto a barge that was set adrift at sea. Almost a century later, in 2003, the Squamish won a decades-long legal battle that returned four hectares of the original site to the nation. In 2022, backed by a $1.4 billion loan from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation — the largest in that organization's history — construction began on an 11-tower, 6,000-unit housing complex. Chief Joe is quick to acknowledge her nation's unique circumstances. 'Squamish Nation happens to be in a place that is unprecedented for our nation,' she says. 'We have gone from a state of dependency, in less than three generations, to a nation that will thrive financially.' But for all the importance of financial restitution, Chief Joe emphasizes that well-being — and reconciliation — involves far more than money. 'That's not going to solve the amount of [Indigenous] children that continue to be in care. It's not going to solve the amount of injustices in the justice system. It is not going to solve the increasing amount of Indigenous women, girls, LGBTQS+ individuals that go missing and murdered in this country.' Chief Joe doesn't remember exactly when 'economic reconciliation' entered the vernacular. The term was used in South Africa during the post-apartheid years, but it wasn't until after Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission published its report in 2015 that it started popping up here. 'It was a term that people were starting to glom onto,' she recalls. 'It's like 'reconciliation.' It's a term that just managed to land with settler Canadians, so you run with it.'
The Province
7 hours ago
- The Province
Mark Carney takes a dig at B.C. Ferries for buying from a Chinese shipyard
Prime Minister makes quip about contentious decision during tour of Canadian Navy facility on Vancouver Island Published Aug 04, 2025 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 2 minute read Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with Royal Canadian Navy Commander, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, left, during a visit to the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges (CFMETR) operations centre, on the Winchelsea Islands, near Nanoose Bay, B.C.,, on Monday, August 4, 2025. Photo by Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS NANOOSE BAY — Prime Minister Mark Carney continued his visit to B.C. on Monday as he toured the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges facility on Vancouver Island. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Wearing a navy blue suit, Carney visited the facility near Nanoose Bay, about 30 kilometres north of Nanaimo, for about 2 1/2 hours, during which he toured the Royal Canadian Navy vessel Sikanni. A statement from the Prime Minister's Office says Carney's visit aimed to highlight Canada's plan to rebuild, rearm and reinvest in the Canadian Armed Forces. It adds Carney also used the visit to thank Canadian navy members serving on the West Coast. He was accompanied by Navy Commander Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee and Commanding Officer Craig Piccolo from the testing facility. They also joined Carney on a tour of the facility's Range Operation Centre. 'Fire one,' he mused as he peered through binoculars and pretended to fire a torpedo, drawing laughter from those present. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carney marvelled at the strength of binoculars and joked about what he could see. 'I see a ferry,' he said, quickly adding, 'Not Chinese-made.' Carney's comment is in reference to B.C. Ferries, the private company owned by the provincial government that recently bought four ferries from a Chinese shipyard. While the company has said the shipyard offered the best deal, it has drawn criticism from Premier David Eby and federal Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland. Prime Minister Mark Carney looks through high-powered ship binoculars during a visit to the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges (CFMETR) operations centre, on the Winchelsea Islands, near Nanoose Bay, B.C.,, on Monday, August 4, 2025. Photo by Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS Carney left the facility by car, driving past a group of demonstrators with the Freedom From War Coalition. They held up Palestinian flags and signs calling on Canada to impose an arms embargo on Israel. One of them, Eden Haythornthwaite, said Carney's plan to spend more money on the military runs counter to the wishes and needs of Canadians, who want to see more money spent on public housing and education among other items. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'We don't need a whole bunch of armaments,' she said. Canada's commitment under NATO's new defence spending targets for actual hardware and infrastructure could cost up to $150 billion. Juljana Zeqollari questioned Carney's recent announcement that Canada's government plans to recognize a Palestinian state. 'In the meantime, they are sending bombs and military shipments to Israel to commit genocide,' she said. Carney did not take questions from media and did not meet with people like Brenton Thompson and Bill MacArthur, who were hoping to catch a glimpse of him. 'That was underwhelming,' Thompson said. The tour marked a continuation of his visit to B.C. On Sunday, Carney met with Eby as well as officials from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. Carney and Eby discussed U.S. tariffs and a renewed animosity in the long-running softwood lumber dispute. After the meetings, Carney made a surprise appearance at Vancouver's Pride Parade, marching for about a kilometre along the route beginning outside B.C. Place Stadium. Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Canucks Local News News
