-· or of

- ·

St. John 's

IS F I SI I ER I ~S DIV~ I~S I FIC/\T J ON A SUST;\JN/\BU: STRAT~ ,y'J TH E CASE OF THE EWFO NOLAND REDFIS II FISII ERY

by

Kathryn Goe tting

A Major Report submitted to

the School of Grad uate Studies in partial fu lfi ll ment of the req uiremen ts for the degree or

Master of Marine tud ies Fish eries Resource Manage111en1

Fisheries and Marine Ins titute of Memorial Uni ve r ity ofNewfoun cllancl

June 2008

Newfoundland

ABSTRACT

Canada's tenth province. Newfoundland and Labrador ( L), wa built aro und marine reso urces. It bega n over 500 yea rs ago, when Europeans came to eli cover new land . . DiversificMion into new species occurred over ce nturies due to c hanges in markets, techno logy, and re ource abundance. T he redfish (Sehasres species) fishery in NL has evo lved and cha nged ove r rime du e to foreign partic ipation, confede ration with Canada.

in creased lif e history knowledge, and declining stocks. In 1992, when the cod moratorium occurred, the re was a push to exp loit other spec ies, redfish being a primary co ntender.

I n this paper, I exa mine th e hi story of the northwest Atlantic redfish fi shery from

a divers ificati on viewpoint. By analyzin g the literature regardin g all aspects of th e

redfi h fi shery, I examin e the diversification potential of the species in the mid-1990 ,

an d determine if redfish can he lp ease the burden of the fis heries crisis. I find that the

mi sma nageme nt of the fishery and the biolog ical cha racteri stics of redfish combine to put

the resource in a vulnera ble stare from which it has yet to recover. It is th erefore

uns uitab le for increased exp loi tat i on. T hi s co nclusio n is upported by an exami nation or

the experi ence with di vers ifica ti on in the com muni ty o f Gaultois.

- - - -- - - -- - - --

ACKNOWL EDGEMENT

I wo uld lik e to thank all th ose who helped me in the writin g or thi s Major Report. Pho ne conversa ti ons with Jo hn He nry Day and Eri c Day in Harbour Bre ton prov id ed mu ch needed inf o rmati on on the groundfi sh fi sheri es in ewf o undl and and how th ey afrect outp ort co mmuniti es. Many th ank s go to Murray Eng ram o f Gaultois for in viting me int th e f i h pl ant and o ffe ring inf ormati on on th e hi story and potenti al of th e redfi sh fis h ry in that area. In additi on, di scus ions with Max Taylo r showe d hi . knowledge of the fis hin g industry and it. re lation hip to outport commun iti e. or Newro unclland . Co mmunicati on with employees or DFO. mo. t espec iall y Don Power an d /\ nne-Marie Ru sse ll , was vit al in ac quiri ng data ror thi s pa per. Finall y. many thanks to my superviso r.

Dr. M ic hac l Werncrhe im. fo r hi s pat iencc and guida nce th ro ughout thi s who le proces . .

Ill

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

ACKNOW LEDGEMENTS T AIJLE OF CONTENTS Ll T OF F I GURES

LI ST OF ABBR EVIATIONS

I . l NTROD CTIO

I . I R ESEARCH PROIJLEM I .2 M ETIIODOLOGY

2. PREV IOUS LiTERATURE

3. R i:CORD OF M ANACiEME T

3. 1. B IOLOG Y

3.2. STOCK STATUS 4. DI VER I FICAT ION

4. 1. GAULTO IS: A ATTEMPT AT REDFISH DIVERSIFICATION 6. CONCLUSI O S

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

P GE

II Ill IV

v

VI

5

6

7

10

1 4

19

28

36

40

47

LiST OF FIGURES PAG E

FIGURE I . Map o f six red fi sh management units in th e orth wcst Atla nti c. II

F IGURE 2. Ca nadi an redfi sh landings for 1 972 to 2005. Amounts show n for 1 3 Newf o undl and and La brador (NL). ova Scoti a (NS ), and oth er

provinces (N ew Brunswick , Prince Edwa rd Island , and Que bec).

FI GURE 3. Cod and red fi sh percentages of total ground fi sh landings in 1 5 Newfoundland from 1972 to 2005.

FI GURE 4. Cod and red fi sh pe rce ntages of total ground fi sh va lu es in 16 Newfoundl and from 1972 to 2005.

F t(j U RE 5. TAC levels and land ed amounts o f Unit I (Gulf of t. Lawre nce) 24 redfi sh from 19 85 to 2002.

FiGU RE 6. T AC levels and lande d amount for Division 2+ 3 K ( Ha mi I ton 27 Ba nk) redfis h from 1 985 to 2002.

FtG RE 7. TA C leve l s and landed amounts for Unit 2 (Laurentian hanne l) 29 reclfish from 1985 to 2002.

F t<i URE 8. TAC leve l ancll andecl amount s fo r 30 (G rand Bank) redfi sh 30

from 1985 to 200 2.

Ft<iURE 9. TA l eve ls ancll andecl amounts for Unit 3 (Scoti an She lf) 3 1 reclfi sh from 1 985 to 2002 .

FIGU RE 10. Map ofN ewfoundla nd with community ofGaultois hi ghli ghted. 37

v

- - - · - -- - - -

LI ST OF ABI3REY IATIONS

DFO EEZ FRCC

AFO NEAFC TAC

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Exc lusive Econom ic Zone

Fisheri es Resource Conse rvatio n Counci l

Northwest Atlantic Fis heries Organi zation

ortheast Atlantic Fi sheries Commission

Total Allowable Catch

I. Introduction

Since 1993, wh en the cod fish ery co ll apsed, those involved in the fi shing industry in New foundland and Labrador have strugg led to find soluti ons to what is wide ly fel t as a crisis. It was important to seek pragmatic responses to the catastrophe not j ust because participants in th e fi shin g indu try were faced with a signifi ca nt loss of income, but aLo to determine ways in which the Province and th e country co uld man age resour es sus tainabl y. Di versifi cation into other species seemed lik e a via bl e so luti on. Press ure on oth er marine fi sh ·pecies, both she llfi h an d other groundfi sh, gave many hope that all was not lost. This paper exp lores the s hift from Atl anti c cod to red!ish (Sehastes sp.) and conside rs whether increasing exp loitation on rcdfish is a rea li sti c soluti on to problems fac ing the Newfound land fi shin g indu s try.

Divers if y ing the fishery is an e senti a l step in att empting su tainabl e exp loitatio n of altern ate species. Diversification dec reases. and som etimes eliminates pressure o n stocks that are stru gg ling to survive or recover. However, redirecting acti vity from one specie to anoth er is not a n easy task . Altho ugh the same gear and pr cessin g eq ui pment may be use d for two separat e spec ies, mu ch more needs to be considered. Life hi story (or li fe cycle) charac teri sti cs are th e primary factors th at se riously affec t a spec ies' ability to recove r. In addition, after th e cod mo ratorium manage ment regi me needed to shift their focus from ha rve ting to recovery management. and look for a spec ies that could rep lace cod as a so urce of inco me in th e fishery . Regul ati ons and guidc lin s for a species th at is in seve re dec line o r already coll apsed arc quite di ITerent from one tha t is in stab le co ndition. For stocks in a sec ure s tate, th e goa l ce nt ers on profi tab ility and

econom ic contributions. In these cases, co nservati on is a consid eration as a mea ns of

ensuring th e continued viability of the fi shery. The situati on is quite different when a fi shery is at ri sk of bein g shut down. Earl y effort s shou ld attempt to pre-empt c lo ures, lo r exampl e by redu cing fi shing effort. Politi c: often intGrf e rc with consGrvation goaL as the focus is centered on parti c ipants in the fish ery instead of on th e ri sks to pec ies. In th e case of g roundti h (redfish and cod in the northwest Atlantic). efforts should have bee n bala nced between s tock recovery and u tain abl e divers ificati on into other spec ie . All too often th ere i a reacti ve mod e of ma nagement , attempting to olve problems that could perhaps have been avo ided wi th proactive regul atory measures.

The fi shing indu stry is an important element in the culture, sett le ment. a nd economy of ewfoundl and and Labrador. For the island o f cwfou ndland espec ia ll y. the fishery was the rai son d' etre. It has been o ne of th e most ignificant emp loye rs for the Pro vi nce. and also it ha. influenced the formation of c ultura l. soc ial. an d po liti ca l ins titut ions (ll anrah an 1 993). Disco e ries of new stocks throu ghout the northwest Atl anti c, and tec hnolog ica l advance in gea r and ha rvest ing and processing eq uipme nt have a ll contributed to a more effic ient fishing indu stry. Initially these improveme nt s made the fi sheri es more profitable as harveste rs were ab le to go further from shore, fi h in inclement weather, and catch more fi sh in less time. Howeve r, th ese inn ovati ons a l compro mi sed th e con ervati on and sustain abilit y of th e pecies as we ll as changed th e industry a nd its parti cipant s from a f i. hery composed primarily of in shore. mall-scale harves ters to o ne compris ing a significa nt e lement of offshore compan ies with weake r loca l tics.

The cod co ll apse forced the participants in the ewfo undl and fishing industry to

consider diversification in to oth er species, but these species were not immune to

overfi shing and severe stock dec line . Th e cod morato rium not onl y made di ver ifica tion necessa ry, but it a lso rai sed a vvarenes. o f the need fo r a biologica ll y sustai nabl e and economica lly viabl e ma nageme nt reg ime. The ewfoundl and gro undfish fi she rie have required so me type of transformati on in the la st two decad es. Although di versifi cation is not a panacea, it ca n offer a soluti on to so me chall enges and a ll ow fi she ry partic ipa nts to remain in pe rhaps the onl y occ upation they know . Howeve r. cli \'e rsifica ti on can not be succe s ful unless practi ces are in place th at underl ine the import ance of consen ·atio n fo r prolonged ex ploitation. Simpl y switchin g from one spec ies to a nother is not enough t all evi ate harves ting pressure and mag ica lly restore stoc ks. In deed, the shift needs to be co upl ed with a n a pproach in wh ich the industry adapts to new goals of recovery of coll ap eel species, and res pect ustainability guidelin es for othe r species that may be subjec t to more inte nse ex plo itati on. It is essentia l to lea rn fro m pa t mi stakes, change protoco ls that do no t wo rk , and make manage ment trategies spec i fie to each pecics.

To better understand if red fi sh can offe r a sus ta inabl e di ve rs ifi cation option l o r the Newf oundl a nd fi hing industry, it mu st be clea r what is meant by sustai nabili t in th is paper. A wide ly accep ted de finiti on of sustainabl e developm ent co mes fro m the World Commi s ion on Env ironment and Developmen t. Accord ing to a re port issued by this orga ni zation , sus tainab l e development "meets the needs o f the pre cnt with out compromisin g the ability of future gene rati ons to mee t their own need " (Brundtla nd 1 987 ). For fi sheri es susta inabili ty ¹¹¹ ew foundl and and La brador. a more de tai led de finiti on is neces ary. Although sustai nability, at irs core, co ncern s a reso urce' longevit y. the s usta inabilit y invo lve. human be ings ma nipulation and exp loitat ion of the reso urce fo r th eir pro longed bene fit. Whe n discus ing fi sheries re. ourccs, partic ipan ts arc

3

most co ncern ed with the eco nomic bene fits they can ga111 from harvesting a pec1 es.

Fi heri es manageme nt in vol ves deve loping natura l resources so that the resource remains abunda nt far into th e future while co ntinuing to pro vide consiste nt and sig nifica nt economi c be ne fit . Comme rcial and ecol ogica l s us tain ability a re bo th para mount to a succe sful fi shin g indu stry (DFO 1 993). It i s essenti a l to manage fi sheri es beca u e it is know n that they can be depleted and be dri ven to extin cti on (see e.g. Charle 1 994 ). Fo r the purpose of this research, usta inabilit y in vo lves the integrity o f the na tural env iro nme nt and th e abundance o f the resource, the econo mic be ne fits ga ined from the reso urce, and the longev ity of co mmunities utili zin g the resource. In additi on, rela ting th e resource susta i nabi I i ty to th e longev ity o r the communiti es throug hout th e Pro vi nee gi vcs a new pe rspec ti ve and import ance to pro perl y managed fi sheri es resources in thi s reg ion.

It is not onl y about money and econo mic return . but also a way of lif e.

Examining the no rthwest Atl antic redfi h fi shery presents new chall enges to dive rsifi cation as a strategy to dea l with the soc io-economi c consequences of clos ures.

Lif' e hi sto ry c ha rac teri s tics that are drasti ca ll y diff e re nt from th ose of other comm ercia ll y exploited gro undfi sh species, past s tock dec lines, closures, and mi smanageme nt, all ca ll into ques ti on th e potenti al of redfi sh to all ev iate th e fi she ri e_ crisis. It appears that red fis h is there fo re a questi onable ca ndidate f o r di ve rsifica ti on.

Thi s paper attempts to address th e spec ifi c question o f wheth e r fi heri e di vers ificati on i a susta inab le opti on for co ll apsccl pec1 es. Susta inability, for th e pu rpose or thi s research, invo lves both pro longed economi c and biologica l successes.

T he foc us is on the northwest Atl a nti c redfi sh fi she ry. The re earc h exa mines the life

hi sto ry charac teri stics o f th e species, the region's need for di vers ifi cati on, and the pas t

and prese nt mana gement strategies for redfi sh. All of these iss ues will be rega rded in terms o f how they mi ght affect the spec i es' potenti al to beco me a si g nifi cant conrributo r to the economy, and th e cwfo undland fi shing indu stry in parti cul a r. The cwfoundl a nd redfi sh fi hcry has not prev iously been examin ed in deta il to determine its potenti al as a fea ibl e a nd competiti ve a ltern ati ve to th e cod fi shery in the Pro vince. Ye t, it has been ide ntifi ed a an und erutilize d spec ies, and redfi sh landin gs have in creased over th e years, espec ia ll y s ince the co I mo ratorium in I 992. However, these pass ive efforts have not bee n e noug h. It i s now time to expl ore this option in an attempt to a. cert ain wheth er thi s spec i e can in fac t help di ve r ify th e fi she ry in ew fo undland a nd Labrador.

I. I. Research Problem

Th e ce ntral claim o f thi s paper ^IS that the Ca nadia n Atla nti c redfi sh fi she ry was mi smanaged from th e . tart. It i. th erefo re ill -suited as a ta rget fo r di versifi ca tion. Th~.:

redfi sh fi shery wa. targeted as a ca ndidate for divers ifica ti on a nd labe l ed as an underutili zed s pec ies in a region that continu es to re ly heavil y on fi sheri es inco me and employment a fter the collapse of the cod fi s he ry. Since the purpose of thi s pape r is to determine the Newfoundland redfi s h fi shery's suitability for di ve r ifi ca tion and potenti a l to help ease the burd e n of dec lining fi s h stocks, tvvo ma in questi on mu t be addressed.

First, how has th e redfi h fi shery bee n ma naged in the past? Seco nd, how have past management sc hemes affected its present potent ia l fo r di ver. ifi cati o n"

The idea of diversificati on is to miti gate press ure on a va ri ety or resources, lead ing to a balance in the indu stry th at promotes sustain ab le, pro longed exp loit ation ba. ed on socio-economi c or poli tica l fac tors, wh ile tak ing int o accoun t eco ys te m

5

integrity and biolo gical dive rsity. Thi s type of research can be exp anded to address wo rldwide fi sheries probl ems and could aid in determinin g soluti ons to cri ses th at affec t peopl e all over the world. Communiti es worldwide re l y on fi sheri es resources and many of th ese arc in declin e or on the verge of co ll ap. e. Th e demi se and di sa ppearance o f th e stoc ks have import ant co nsequences biolog ica ll y. economi call y. a nd socia ll y.

Deve lopin g remedi es to o ffset past mi sta kes ca n signifi cantl y a ffect peo ple who rely on fi sheri es for the ir main source of inco me.

1.2. Methodology

In ord er to examine thi s problem , I will analyze the deve lopme nt of th e red fi sh fi shery for e wfoundl a nd. All as pects of the fi s he ry will be exa mined. inc luding harvestin g and process ing tec hniques, in creased bi olog ica l knowl edge of the spec ies. marl et a nd produc t expansion. stoc k sta tu s and abundance . and increased expl oit ati on e ffo rt in th e wa ke o f the cod collapse. All of the se areas will be re lated to th e poli cies and regul ati ons for the fi shery and th e socia l and eco nomi c rol e of th e fi shery. Att enti on will be on the ma nage ment his tory. the re percuss ions of th e re levant manage ment practi ce . and it s e iT ects on the di ve rs ifica ti on potenti al o t ' the spec i es. To thi end . an ex ten. ive literat ur review will be unde rta ke n. In addition. inf orma l conve rsa ti ons

rather than fo rmal struc tured intervi ews, with indi viduals kn ow ledgeabl e ab out a sma ll , re mote, outport co mmuni ty in New foundl and that relies heavil y on th e redfi sh fi shery were co nducted to

1

Informa l conservations we re conducted via telephone and on the author' s personal visit to the town of

Gau ltoi s. Newfoundl and. When information learned from these conservations is used in this rcron. a

footnote explains the tit le of the person providing the informati on .

lea rn from a ttempt s at speci es di versifi ca ti on invo lving redfi . h. These co nversati ons we re carri ed out with the fu ll knowledge and conse nt of the person contacted.

2. Previous Literature

Th ere are a va ri ety o f document. that addre s the issues ra ised in this Report, although none has consi dered th e speci fie research questi ons examined he re This sectio n disc usse the most important sources upon whi ch my resea rch draw . In terms of manage me nt. the Fis heri es Resource Con servati on Counc il (FR C) publi hed a co mprchen. ive overview of a numbe r o f ground fi s h stocks in anad ian wate rs (2003). In thi s doc um ent , the FRCC upd ates th statu s o f differe nt groundli sh stocks. in cludin g li ve rcctlls h stoc ks ( nit s 1-3 . 30 , ancl Di vis ion 2+ 3K). This document is th e main source fo r th e tota l all owable ca tch (T !\C) l eve ls and landed amounts for th e red fi sh s tocks di scuss ed in thi s paper. For eac h sto ck, th e curre nt sta tus i s listed, and th e FRCC makes recomme ndations regardin g ex ploitati on leve l s a nd identifi es furthe r resea rch needs rega rding conserva ti on. Because of th e problems assoc iated with th e stoc k s tructure a nd dyna mics in the redfi h fi s hery.

the FRCC recommend s th at future research fo cus on improv in g our und erstandin g of th e stock composition . Thi s is cons idered esse nti al to th e susta ina ble and uccessf ul ma nageme nt of red fi sh stocks. Th e Rcdfi sh Mul tidi ciplina ry Resea rch Zonal Prog ram lin a l report (Ga. con 2003 ) combines papers a nd abstrac ts on a va ri ety of topics co nce rnin g the redtish fi shery, includin g stock struc ture, manage ment approaches, a nd rec ruitment studi es . The re ea rch was unde rtake n betw een 1 995- 1 998 with th e prim ary goal to bett er unde r tand the pecies in ord er to ens ure long te rm susta inability and economi c viability of the fi shery. The FRCC docum ent refe r to thi s resea rch and it

7

reco mmend s fo ll ow-up work in certain areas (i.e. sea l predati on on red fis h) in ord er to better determin e th e level of impac t o n th e state o r the redfi _ h fi shery.

Ro. c (2 007) prov ides ge nera l hi stori ca l inf o rmati on on ground fi sh fi sheri es in the northwest Atl anti c, spcci fi ca ll y the cod fi s hery, fl·om its i nccpt ion in the 16

century to its co ll apse in 1992, and beyo nd . Ro e's a nalysis he lps ex plain the need for di versifica ti on based o n the state of groundfi sh fi heri e . It a l so helps supp ort the c lai m made in th e present paper of mi smanageme nt of the e wf o undl and fi shing indu stry. One important attribute of redfi sh management that is di ffe re nt from oth er groundfi h fis he ri es i that they arc managed as stocks rather than by spec ies. Distin gui shing amongst the different Sebasr es pec i e th at compri se the north we , t Atlanti c stock. and th e ir growth rates arc maJO r concern s for proper ma nage ment of th e fi s hery (Mi sra and i 1 983: i and

andcman 1 984: Ni 1 9 I ancl1 984 ).

The bio l og i ca l charac teri sti cs of rcdli sh have co ntri but ed to mak in g dive rs ification diffic ult in New foundl and . The reaso ns are outlin ed in Morin c t a l.

(2004), who de tail th e life hi story, inc luding growth rates, age at maturation, fecundity, and th e ir distribution. Th e author relate these charac teristics to mana gement and conserva ti on strategies. Th e ma in i ues revo lve around th e spec ies' s low-growing, lo ng- li ved. and l a t e- maturin g lif e history, distin guishin g th em from o the r co mmercia ll y ex ploit ed groundfi sh in th e north west 1\ tl anti c, and chang ing th eir recovery potenti al a nd e ffecti ve manageme nt strategies.

Thi paper will arg ue th at th e redfi h fi . hery has long been mi managed and that

thi s, along with th e spec ies' unique li fe hi story character isti c , make di versifica tio n

diffi cult. In o rder to make a prope r nsse . ment of th e di ve rs ifica ti on potenti a l of redli h

for th e ewfoundla nd regio n, it i necessa ry to ana lyze first the recove ry potenti al of th e spcc t es. Hilborn et a l. (2005) outline the methods used in successful manage me nt sy tems, whil e others exa min e ca uses of fis heri es co llapses and recovery sc hemes ( Roughga rd en and Smith 1 996; Jac kson ct al. 200 I; Hutchings and Reynolds 2004).

Stefa nsson and Rosenberg (2005) address ma nage ment of fi she ries under un certainty- an issue central to the rcdfi sh fi shery. In additi on, it i neces ary for manager. and scienti ts to cons ider the diffi culti es in mak ing predi cti ons about stock deve lopme nt for purpo es o r fi sheri es manageme nt, and to place greater emphas is on assessi ng th e sta tu. of the reso urce prio r to deve l opin g harvesting strategies and settin g quotas (Ca ddy and e ij o 2005). Th e precauti onary approach is co nsidered in thi s paper as an e ffective ma nageme nt strategy for th e redfi sh fi heri es in Newfo undl and. Thi s principle in vo lves a bala nce b tween acquiring inf o rm ati on and decision makin g. The key is in keeping policy mak ing acti ve whil e information is be ing gathered. Give n th e well -known data inadequac ies, it stands to reaso n that it is advisable to err o n the side o f ca ution.

Doc uments by Atkin so n (2 000) and Ca ddy and Seijo (2005) are exa min ed fo r further in fo rm ati on on thi s topi c.

These sources, al o ng with o thers ( Parso ns et al. 1 976; DFO 2005; Paul y et al.

2005), off\:: r a wea lth of informati on not onl y o n the north west Atl antic redfi sh fi shery, but also on other g roundfish fi sheri e in the same region. They make ev ident num erou iss ues hindering not onl y the potenti al for red fi sh in easin g th e fi heri es cri sis, but a l o the di f fi culty in manag ing the fi shery s uccess full y and sustainably in a more ge ne ra l sense.

As will be seen be low, deta ils on management tec hniqu es and soc io-economi c impacts

9

deri ved from th e literature, from both a loca l and g lobal pe rspec ti ve, are appli cable and rele vant to the Newfoundland redfi sh fi shery.

3. The Record or Management

The north wes t /\tl anti c red fi sh fi shery bega n in the Gul f of Maine in th e 1930 (Whit 195 4; K e ll y et a l. 1 972 ). The fi shery ex pa nded s ignifi cantl y be tween 1948 and 1952 ' ith th e di sc ove ry of new s tocks thro ug hout the northwest Atl anti c and. no tabl y. in the wate rs aro und ew foundl a nd. But th e first noteworth y amounts of red fi sh were not landed until 1953 (Sande ma n 1 973). Atlanti c anad ian prov inces and Quebec have all pa rti cipa ted in the red ll sh fis hery s ince its inception. but th e provi nces of ewfo und land and Labrador.

and ova cotia have hi tori call y been th e major pa rticipa nts. T his is prima ril y due to prox imity to th e resource in these provinces. The primary redfi h stock harvested and processed in ewfoundla nd a nd Labrador since the beginning o f the fi s hery include Unit I [Gul f of t. Law rence], Unit 2 [Laurenti an hannel], Unit 3 [ coti an he lf] . 30 [G rand Ba nk]. Di vis ion 2+ 3K [H amilton Ba nk]. and 3M [Flemi sh a p] (F igure I ). Howeve r, Unit I w<L closed as a direc ted fi shery in 19lJ5. and Di vision 2+3K was closed in 1 997.

The reclfi h fi shery in ew founclland evolved rathe r slowly and was primaril y dri ve n in the earl y stages by rep lacement of co ll ap ·ed stocks. rather th an by de ma nd and new market.. Rcdfi sh we re o ri gina ll y caug ht as byca tch and dis arded clue to lack of market lo r the s pec ies. The comm erc i a lization and inc reased ex pl o itati on o r the fi. hery res ulted from an increase in demand for fr ozen !Ish in th e United tatcs ( Kell y e t a l.

1 972; Dawe 1 976) . Yellow per h from th e Great La ke region of orth meri ca, the

tap le o f the frozen foo d industry, was in declin e and red fi sh were fo und to be

60

55

Quebec

50 Unit 1

Saguenay FJord

New Brunswick

Nova

45 ^'scotia

G""'~3

Maine

-70 -65 -60

Labrador Sea

Hawke Channel

-55

Grand Banks

3 LN

-50

Greenland

Atlantic Ocean

Flemish Cap

3M

-4 5

Fig ure I. Map of six redfish management units in the orthwest Atlantic: Uni t I; Uni t 2;

Un it 3; 30; 3M; and Division 2+3K .

Source: NAFO. Note that map has been modified from its origina l version.

II

co mparabl e to ye llow perch in freez ing ability. Th e in crea e in demand , th e dec line in ye ll ow perc h, and th e adva ncements occ urring in pac kaging, freezing, a nd tra nsportati on tec hn olog ies, all he lped ex pand th e redfi sh fi shery with a minimal a mo unt of promot ional e ffo rt by th e fi shing indu try (Whit e 1954 ). Frozen fi sh sti cks emerged in the 1 950 , and by 1956 New foundl and had captured abo ut 50 percent of the froze n f ish marke t fo r fish sti c ks. In additi on, lowe r qu alit y and lower priced fis h can sup ply thi s ma rke t ( Rose :?.007), and redf~sh fa ll s into both catego ri es.

Often so ld under the name ocean perc h ( Ke ll y et al. 1 972), market deve loped gradu all y for redfis h, although demand in Atl anti c Ca nada was minimal primaril y on account o f the perception of th e spec ie as a ' poo r man's mea l' ( Dawe 1976). Th i made it diffic ult to promote ha rvestin g and consumpti on o f th e spec ies locall y. Presentl y, the primary redfi sh ma rkets for Ca nada a re in th e United States. Europe, and As ia. Fo r the US and Europea n mark ets red fi sh is fresh packed and fill et ed ~ ( K e lly et al. 1 972); th As ian mark ets pre fe r the produ ct to be whole ro und , with little processin g

(0' Leary et a l.

1 985) . Th e fis hery reached a peak in 1959, with Canadian lan dings amount ing to almost 400,000 metric tonn es (Mc Kone and LeG row 1990; Lea r 1 998). Catc hes dec reased s ign ifica ntl y after thi . pe ri od, hovering between 100 - 200,000 me tric tonnes fo r most of th e 1 960s and 1 970s (Lea r 1 998). Landed a mounts bega n to increase in the 1970s, and reac hed a hig h for thi s peri od of about 1 60,000 m e tri c to nnes for Ca nada in 1973 (F ig ure 2). Although th e lan dings did not exceed I 00 ,000 me tric to nnes after 1 975, red fi sh

' Eric Day. nion representative for the l larbour Breton Fi. h Plant. Persona l communication. 20 Februar 2007.

-' Murray Engrilm. Mayor ofGau ltois. Personal communieation. I I April 2007.

180000

160000 r

140000 t

120000

0 NL 0 NS Other AtlantiC 0 Total AtlantiC

Figure 2. Canad i an redfi sh landin gs for 1 972 to 2005. Amo un ts shown for Newfoundland and Labrador ( L), Nova Scotia (NS), a nd other provinces (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec).

Source: DFO.

13

prov ided a n important contributio n to the ewfoundland fi shing indu stry and to th e li ve lihoods of its parti cipants .

When th e cod moratorium was an no unced in 1 992. effort and fi shin g pres urc in the red fis h fi she ry in crea eel . Red fi sh landings soon co mprised a lmo. t 50 pe rcent of th e total ewfoundl and groundfi sh landings (Fi gure 3 ). This i notable s ince the groundfi h fi shery in clude ove r thirteen species. In economic terms, red fi . h ac counted for a I mos t 30 perce nt of total ground fish value in 1994 (Fig ure 4). So, th e . tage was set for di ve rs ifica ti on, a nd redfis h appea red a a possible ·ont e nder.

3. 1. Biology

Th e biology, life hi story traits, and pas t mana gement practi ce have greatl y a fTected th e recovery potenti al o f the spec ies. As noted prev iou ly, reclfl s h arc a s low-growin g, long- li ved. a nd la te- maturin g deepwater fis h with an ex treme ly lm\ insta nta neo us natura l mort alit ra te ( ayo et a!. 1979: NEF C !993) . They reac h an average age of approx imate ly 40 years (McKone and LeGrow 1 99 0), but pec ime ns more th an 75 yea rs old have been found (Morin eta!. 2004). Redfi sh typically occur at depth s ra ngin g from 130 meters to 750 meters, but ha ve bee n ca ught in water as deep as II 00 me ter ( cott and co tt 1988). The e fac tors innu ence reg ulati ons in pl ace for standard monitoring and exp loitati on of th e resource a we ll as impac t recovery pl ans. If rates of reco ery of marin e fi sh spec i es a re ind eed re lated to li fe his tory and habit at prefere nces. then thi s informati on . hould be helpful in dev ising red fi sh recove ry strategies. For in stance.

evid ence sugges ts th at pelagic pcc 1 es recove r fas ter tha n de mersa l spec1 cs and tha t

recove ry 1 s more preva lent and fas ter in early-ma turing species ve rsus late- maturi ng

90

80

• ' ..

70

,. • ^{• • •} _•

"

60

" ^'\

"

"'

"' •

c ..

" •

~ ₄₀

" •

Q.

• ...

30

_.. . ..

20

10

t

:\'\.

,'<> :\I><

,'<> ,'<> ^:\"' ,'<> ^:\'0 ,<li ^!0() !0'~-

,OJ _,OJ ~ !Oro

,OJ !0'0

,<li

,co

,OJ

,co

,co

'\.<::l Year

Figure 3. Cod and redfi sh percentages of tota l ground fi s h landings

ewfound lancl from 1972 to 2005.

IS

90

80 70

60

~

w

E ~

~ ⁴⁰

Q.

30

20

10

• •

;a • •

•

.. ·""-.

. ^.. _{._\}

\

•

'

. ;\ ^"'

I ^•

'\

•

R~~~'~'~'~'~~''''''~'~~~#,##~#,~#,

Year

% redf1sh

• %cod

Fig ure 4. Cod and red tish perce ntage , of total grou nd fis h va lues in Newfoundland from

1972 to 2005.

spec1 es (Hut chings and Reynold s 2004 ). This would suggest that red fi sh have more obswc l es to ove rcome than many oth e r co mm ercia ll y imp orta nt groundfi sh spec ies in th e north west Atl anti c. It i s important that poli cies regardin g genera l ex ploi tatio n o r stoc k renewa l take th e e points into cons iderati on.

Dee p-water habitat preference of red fi sh lead to diffi culty in obtainin g bio l ogica l information , and in monitoring changes in environmental condition over time. Th ese fac tors dec rease the chances for a resource to be managed su t a inably beca use th ere i.

more un cert ainty regarding stock dynami c (llilborn et al. 2005 ). Abundance indices.

gro\\'th ra te . age at sexual maturity. !i f pa n. a nd natural mort alit y ra tes all contribut e to ma nage me nt dec i s ions and a id se ienti. ts and managers in determining how a s pec i es may respond to ex ploita tion. and how recove ry o r th e srock mi ght bes t be achieved. In additi on, beca use th ey arc a deep-wate r spec ies. red fi s h su ffer I 00 pe rce nt mortality wh n brou ght to the s urface qui ckl y by fi shing gea r (Fi he ries Di ersifi cati on Program 200 I).

Thi make th e byca tc h i s ue more problemati c than in some other fi heri es where the bycatch mortality is lower. To address thi problem, experiment were conducted to determine methods which would dec rease the bycatch of imm ature redfi sh while ma intainin g a large and economicall y viabl e catc h ( Hic key et al. 1 995; Fishe ries Di vers ifi cati on Program 200 1 ).

Ano ther pro blem of redti h management 1 s th e dini culty in di s tingui shing amongst the diff erent species th at co mpri e the northwes t Atlanti c redfi sh stoc ks.

Beca use of their eli ffer cnt populati on dyna mi cs, properl y definin g the va ri ou · stocks is key to success ful ma nagement. The reclfish harvested by anada in th e north wes t /\ tla ntl c consists of th ree di!Teren t S<'hosle. \ spec i es ( co tt an d cott 19< g): Schus/es

1 7

nwrinus (L innaeu. 1758), Sebastes /(lsciatus ( torer I < 54), and Sehastes 1111!1/fr!l/a (Travin 1 951 ). Because of th e relat ive difficulty of distinguishing among t the three species ( i 1981 ), rcdtish are managed by locks instead of by specie · in the northwest Atl antic (DFO 1997). Howeve r, one spec i e may domin ate a ce rtain stock (Scott and Scott 1988).

Furthermore, gene tic. resea rch undertaken under the ausp ice. or th e R edfi . h Mu ltidi scip linary Resea rch Zonal Program (Gascon 2003) conc luded that bio l ogical sto k units or· red fish did not correspond to th e managcmcn t units as c urrentl y deli ned, meaning that the population may occ upy much larger a reas than their corresponding management unit s. Gy contrast, th e Atlantic cod stocks in the northwest Atlantic are compri eel ol e ly of Gadus nwrhua . !though temperature differences may oc ur in different region , the ba. ic temperature. habitat, and feeding preferences are the . amc amongst all cod locks because they arc compr ised of on ly one species. Managing up to three different species as on~.: can have dramatic and unpredictab le out come. if pr per mea . urcs arc not tak n.

Sli g ht differences in the life history of the three di ffe rent species ca n dras ti ca ll y affect recruitm ent or recovery of the stocks . In the case of the nit I stock, the current

c l as~ili ca ti on was not impl emen ted until 1 993 . Prev ious l y, th e Gulf of t. Lawren ·e

redfi h stock was managed as Divisions 4R T (F RCC 2003). The stock was redefined in

1993 to take into con ideration the w inter migration into the abot Strait region. Un it I

red fish is managed a one stock but i compri ed of both . mente !Ia and S. fasciarus and

there i. sti ll uncertainty abou t the level of mixing between the nit I redfi hand nit 2

(Laure nti an Channe l) redfi sh stocks. Furthermore. a hybrid of the two species has al. o

been found in both of thee units (DFO 2004) . The FR sugge ted that nits I and _

be con. id crecl a sing le stock, deeming a re-examination of th e cu rre nt delineation of the

sto ck nece a ry to ensure the spec tcs wa . being managed succcs full y regardl ess of seaso nal mig ration s (2003). Like in th e Unit I reg ion , th ere is a need to better understand th e stock dynamics of the red fish in Di vision 2+ 3K (F R 2003; Thomson 200 ).

uggesti on have been made to investigate thi s i sue as well as keeping the fi hery closed to direct fishing and to on ly al l o\\' a limited bycatch fishery (FR 2003 ).

Determining age stru ct ure and growth rates is essentia l to proper management of the spec ies, but it has been prove n diffi cu lt to do so in practice. Incorrect estimates of redfi sh age, growth . and mortality can cause overexploitation based on an erroneous under tanding of stock structure and grO\ th (Saborido-Rey 2004 ). This problem is compounded by the fact that management units contain a va riety of species. In addition.

because red fi sh arc uch a long- li ved species, th e size and age distributions can be very dispersed. maile r mesh size in the codencl of a traw ler he lp · minimize the capture of redfi h that arc mailer than the minimum harvestable size (22cm). lloweve r, fish of this

. ize may still be too small to market. areful attention mu therefore be paid to

preva il ing ec n mic conditi ons when harvesting reg ul ati ons are ct. Moreover. in order to ensure su tain ab lc harves tin g, it i n cessary to co nsider th e age di stribution as we ll as the size distribution . pecifically, the minimum harvestab le size mus t be et so as to ensure that th e pecimen s harvested have reached sexua l maturit y. Rcmo\'in g individual that have not yet reprod uced ca n severel y compromise the longevi ty of there. ource .

3.2. tock tatu s

The s hift to different groundfi sh species after the cod moratorium presented the indus try with an opportuni ty to learn from pa t rni take . With one major re ource under

19

moratorium , lesson. fro m the pas t could have pa ed th e wuy for unique, inn ovati ve protocol s fo r dill er nt or similar spec ies. ll o wcver, becau se the co d closures happe ned so s uddenl y. there was po liti ca l pressure to increase ex ploita tio n o f othe r spec ies like red fi sh too quick ly. In hind ight, it a ppea r there wa not e noug h re fl ecti on on di ffe rence amo ng t pcc ie .

In earlier times, th ere wa littl e acti ve management o f the cod fi shery for e v vfo undla nd harvesters. both be fore and afi er co nfederati o n with anada. Thi s was beca u. e the ft . hery wa. primaril y an insho re fi shery with both food and commerc ia l compo nent s, and the meth od of ~::x traction we re re lati vely

des t in term of produc ti vit y per unit e ffort . Th ere wa always competition among. t harves ter ·, but thi in creased with advances in techn o l ogy a nd evo lving jurisdi cti on rega rdin g ti shin g grounds among t va nous nati ons . With the es tablis hm ent of th e 200- mil e limit in ovcmbe r 1 976. anada had a bett e r idea or it. entitl e ment s and it prov ided a measure o r contro l a. to how bes t to manage th e. e va luable reso urces . Ma nag ing fi sherie in ol vccl mana ging national harves ters, as we ll as a ll wing enforcement in id e and out ide nati onal wa ters t o e nsure regulati ons were be ing foll owed by everyone . Mana gement chall enges we re accompani ed by obstacle as o iated with e tabli shing po li e ie · appro priate for fi ve difTerent ·anadi an prov in ces a. we ll as dea ling with oth er countries, . ome as fa r away as A ia. Fo r cw f o undl and , th ese poli cie needed to ma intain the i. land 's integra l partn ership with th e ocea n.

The cv luti on of th e management and poli ci e s rega rdin g the gro undli sh fi sheri es in th e northwest tl anti c e merged accordi ng to th e prioriti es or th at parti cul ar tim e.

Those prior ities in fisher ies poli cies in Atl an ti c Canadian wa ters have cha nged over the

las t three deca des. With the institution of the 200 mile limit, Canada's fi s her ies poli cies foc used on establi shing co ntrol over fi sheri es resources with in thi s zone and establis hi ng suitabl e manage ment a nd enforcement pract ices. The 1980s saw effo rts di rected toward expans ion and ad va nce ments in the ha rvesti ng an d processing sectors. In addition.

pri ority was give n to deve lop a system for reg ulati on of the diffe rent lleet sec tors. In the 1 990s, the focus shift ed t o conservation in the wake o f stock dec li nes an d co ll apses. This in vo lved redu cing ca pac ity as well as concerted attempt s to develop and utili ze more res ponsibl e fi shing prac tices (DFO 200 I ).

Wh e n it ca me to po li cies an d reg ul ations for redfi sh, they rema ined the same as th ose pertaining to most ot her ground fis h species li ke cod, desp ite the d ifferences in life hi sto ry and th e dec lines of stocks in the past. Sur veys we re conducted and bio mass amounts es timated to determine the T AC for each stock. T 1\Cs are a measu re attempting to e nsure th at ex pl oitati on ca n occ ur over a prolonged pe ri od of time. H ovvever. th ey are not a sure- fire too l t o susta inab ili ty. In sti tuti ng TAC levels based solely on scie ntific surveys or past hi sto ry is now widely understood to be inapp ropria te. Life history cha r'lc teri stics need to be ana lyzed to dec ide wha t is proper fo r each spec ies . The po int is th at since the life history charac teri sti cs of redfish arc di stinct from othe r commercially expl oited groundfi sh spec ies in th e northwest Atla ntic, regul at ions need to rellect these eli ffe rences.

Currently, the popul ar atti tud e to manage me nt and po licy is the precautio nary approach. The precauti onary approac h involves consideration of uncertainties and emph as izes th at l ack of in fo rmati on sho uld not be fol lowed by lack of acti on. It involves clearer de finiti ons of roles of scie ntist and managers and co ns iders socio-economic

2 1

conditions as we ll as biological ones (Atkinson 2000). Thi method .eems like a responsible way to manage fi sheri es, and see ms appropriate for a fi shery s uch as that for redfi sh since thi s fi shery is perhaps partic ularl y pl agued by unce rta inti es with regard to stock co mpo ition and recruitm ent. There is an e l e ment of unce rt ainty in the deve lopment of any fi shery That is. from year to year, th ere is no way to be sure how much reso urce will be harvested, how mLu.:h is ava ilable to be harves ted. and how prese nt harves ting wi ll a fTeet future harvestin g ( harles 1994). Scien ti ts and man agers do the best they ca n. mak ing educated es timates based on survey . biological data. and his t o rica l experiences. Because all unce rtainti es can not be e liminated. it is necessary to take an adaptive approach. The precaution ary ap proac h is adaptive in that it is flexibl e and forward -looking. However, it is not yet firml y entrenched as it reflect relatively rece nt thinkin g about how best to replace decad e of ad hoc soluti on often influenced more by politics than scie ntific ev ide nce.

Unit I

A review of the current status of redlis h stoc ks revea ls weaknesses in th e manage me nt

sc hemes fo r thi s fi s hery. The Gulf of t. Lawrence Unit I redfi h stock had upported a

large fi ·hery for a nada from 19 70 to 1 976 (sec Figure I) . Thi . stock was heavil y

exp loited and s upplied most of anada's redfish in th e 1 970s ( and ema n 1 973). By

1977, th e rcdfish biomas in nit I was be lieved to be onl y one fifth of what it was in

1970. Attention wa s then dravvn to the need for conservation of this s tock. Another p ak

in Unit I bioma was ex perien ced in the early 1990s. but th ere was an immediate stea dy

decrea e directly foll owin g thi s peak (FR 2003 ). Pressure from both a targeted fisher y

as we ll as bycatch cm1.ed the co ll apse of this stock (Fisherie. and Environment Canada 1977) and necess itat ed a moratori um ins tituted in 1995.

Th rc are a variety of theories about the causes of the Uni t I demi . e. However, it wou ld appear that decline in the adult population were most li kely cau ed by overfish ing, as the e declines cea ed when th e fishery was clo eel (Morin et al. 2004).

However. th ere was a l so a dec line in the small, immature re dfi h in nit I . This may have been caused by immature redfi h bycatch in the s hrimp fi . hery (Morin et al. 2004), predation, o r natural mortality ca used by envi ronmental conditions (Ga con 2003).

everth eless, the stock's co ll ap ·e cannot be so lely attributed to o erfish in g and poor recruitment. It i likely that mismanagement con tri buted sign ifican tl y to the decline.

Figure 5 shows discrepancies between T /\ · le ve ls and landed volumes. From 19R5 to 1989. catch tota l s lcll within TAC levels. ll owcver. from 1990 to 1992. a period de cribcd a · one of peak biomass and increa ed landings for th is lishery. the landed amo unt exceeded the TAC level . In the two remaining years before the nit I redfi h fishery was clo ed in !995, TA leve l and catch levels dropped rapidly.

What th en ca used the ac ute declin e that led to the closure of th e Unit I redfi sh stock'! A catastrop hi c combination of ove rfi hing, poor recruitment, and mismanagement is most likely to blame. Regarding a gro undfish spec ies like redlish , management must be conservative and steady because of the difficu lt and IO\ reco e ry proce . a sociated with the low-growin g, late-maturing, and long-lived nature of thi . pecies . A lack of enforcement al o contributed to the mismanagement , whereby landin gs were all owed to exceed TA s during a three -yea r period before the T AC wa s reduced sharpl y. ll owevcr,

23

90000

80000 1

70000 I

60000

5oooo

40000 I

30000

20000

10000

0

- - - -

---

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Year

= catch

-+-TAG

Figure 5. TAC level s and land ed amounts of Unit I (Gulf of St. Lawrence) red fish from

1 985 to 2002.

it appears tha t this co rrective act ion was taken too late as the stock was sub seque ntl y c l osed to commerc ial fi shing.

Dil 't'sion 2 +3K

The Division 2+3K redfish stock did not experience persistent directed effort after 1990 ( DFO 2005). In 1997 it was comp letely c losed to directed commerc i a l exp loit ation . Sin ce 1997, th e onl y fi shin g acti vities that have occu rred in thi s area for redfish are sur vey trawls for the purpose of stud yin g the tock and ana lyzing it. statu s. In the case of thi s re ource. the data shows that 1 958- 1 960 landings were above a sustainable le el.

Landings in th e period 1966-72 were below projl.!cted amoun ts given the l eve l of effort . Like the Unit I stock, ca ll fo r co nserva ti on were made in the ea rl y 1970s (Parsons et a l.

1976). In 1 990, 2400 metric tonnes were landed by Ca nadi an vesse l . ll owever. ca tches dropped to 280 metric ton nes in 199 1 and remained l ower than 19 metric tonnes from

1992 to 1997 (DFO 2005).

Unfortun ate ly. th e Division 2+ JK red fish s tock cont inu e to be plagued by a

poo rl y understood tock structure . The movements o f the red fish in this area tal e the m

outside th e 200 mi le limi t, makin g them vu lnerab le to harvest in g by foreign vesse l . Thi

is believed to be one reason for the co ll apse and slow recovery of the resource. The

pelagic redlish stock found primarily in the lrmingcr ea ben C\.:n rcen land and Iceland

is managed by the ort heast Atlantic Fisht:r i t:s Comm ission ( EAF ). Thi is outside

Canada's exc lus ive eco nomic zone (E - Z), yet is beli eved to co ntain redfish from within

Canada's jurisdiction, mea ning th at the stock i trans-bou ndary (DFO 2005). Canadian

landings of redfish from thi s stock since the moratorium in 1997 are from bycatch in

Green land halibut a nd hrimp fisheries, putting added pressure on th e stock vvhile in a sta te or recovery ( DFO 2005). o, although a targeted !i shery ccm;e d in 1997. some amount. of red!is h from thi s stock have been landed in Canada as bycatch in oth er tisherie .

Data from research surveys show th at the resource wa at a hi torically low level tn 1994 (DFO 2005). Similar to th e Unit I redfish stocks, the decline in abu ndance and co nseq uent moratorium of the Di vision 2+3 K stock occ urred because or a multitude of

fac tor.. Eve n though there was no pcrsi . tent directed harvesting of this stock after 1991.

from 1987 to 1990 the TAC level. va tly exceeded landings (Figun.: 6). This is another examp le or improper management. Correcti ve action was taken, bu t it was too late to prevent full c l os ure of the stock.

From 1 990 onwards, th e landings we re indicative or a stock th at shou ld be surveyed and not commercia lly exp lo ited. It is clear that the resource could not have urvived any gr at effort. It is unclear why ·o many years passed before the fishery was closed. Ignorance of th e precarious state of th e stock is a possibility. Politi ca l pressure to continue to a llow fishing is ano ther.

U11ir ]

Although oth er northwest Atl antic rcdfish t cks are not yet under moratoria. they are not

exempt from inappropria tely set TA levels. or have they benefited from conserva ti ve

act ion in th e wake of poor recr uitment. The co nseq uences ha ve s imply bee n less seve re

or noticeable than for the other . tock . The Unit 2 (Laurentian Channel) redlish stock has

experienced a signi licant decrease in T . going from 21Ul00 metric lonnes in 1993 to

40000

35000 I

30000

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0 _{1985 1986} 1987 1988

~lLo

^o

c::::l catch TAC

Figure 6. T 1\C leve ls and landed amount. for Divi sion 2 3K (ll amilton Bank) reel fish from 1 985 to 2002.

27

on ly 8,000 metric tonnes in 2003 (Figure 7). The overa ll stock co ndition is considered s table and th e curren t ex ploitation leve l is catego ri zed as low (FR 2003).

30 and nit 3

Re dli sh in "'0 arc in a s ituat i on imil ar to that in Unit 2 for lan ded amoun ts sometimes exceeding TAC l eve ls (Figure 8). ll owever. in th e case of 30 redfi: h, the overa ll stock co nditi on appear table, yet th e level of current exploitation i. un certain . 30 red fi sh are more heavil y ex ploited than tho se in nit 3, ' ho c ex ploitation l eve l i. a lso unknown ( FRCC 2003 ). ll o\\'cvcr. in nit 3. the lamk:d amoun ts ha\'e ncvt.:r exceeded T AC I C\' ~,.;l s

(Figu re 0). unli ke th e sit uati on with each of the other stocks described . nit 3 exemplifies a stock th at has little demand for s uch a high TA . Thi s ra i se the iss ue of balancing TA leve ls with demand and reali tic expectations for catches. Although it may be acceptable to ca tch more red fi s h than what i currently being landed, it is essential to determine why there i uch a di crepancy . If the effort has clccrca cl due to lack of demand , then the prob lem is perhap. not se rious. llowevt: r, i r the eli ffercnce i. due to stead y or in creased effort with less return , there ma y be a need to rcca l ulatc th e T A leve l s and determine if a decrease hould be made to ensure susta inab le exploitation.

4. Oiversi fica tion

Divers ification in the fishing indu try ca n take a va riety of forms . It may manifest itse lf in product diff e rentiation or in product enhancement s that add va lue to the end product.

The sources of uch changes are typica ll y develop ments in the mark et for the pecics in

que ti o n or technological deve lopments. A ector of the indu stry may find th at markets

30000

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

I

0 I

D

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Year

~catch TAC

Figure 7. TAC levels and landed am ounts for Unit 2 (Laurenti an Chann el) red fi s h from 1985 to 2002.

29

25000

20000 1

15000

10000

5000

0

\ ^r;-

r- r- ~

II ' ~ ^D ~ ^{. D}

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Year

c::Jcatch TAG

Figure 8. T AC levels and landed amounts for 30 (Grand Bank) red fi sh fro m 1985 to

2002.

12000

10000

8000

6000 I

4000

2000

0

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Year

c::::J catch TAC

Figure 9. TAC levels and landed amounts for Unit 3 (Scotian She lf) red fis h from 1 985 to 2002.

31

have g rown f o r a parti cula r s pec ies or pro duct. Fishing may ccur

new areas. or inn ova tio n in harvesting t ec hniqu es may occ ur. ome times di vers ifi ca ti on is experience d thro ug h a s hirt to a pcc ies th at has not prev i o usly bee n subjec t to co mme rcia l harves ting.

For the purpose of this paper, di ve rsifica ti on mea ns increas ing pre ure on a spec ies that is a lrea dy being exploited, albe it at low or very low leve ls. Accord ing to the Atlanti c Fi sheri es J\dju stme nt Prog ram (DFO 1 990). redfi sh we re an undc ruti lized s pecies in the ea rl y 1990s. In th e wake o f th e cod coll apse, di versifi cation seemed li ke a practical soluti on. In theo ry. expl oiting di ffere nt species should he lp take the press ure off a dec lining tock . Ind eed. succes ful di ver. ifica ti on is possible. I lowe er. it may be argued th at the mann er in whi ch it was executed in Newfoundl and in the mid 1 990s d id not represe nt success. To see why. con. idcr the hi stori ca l bac kgro und th at led to red fi sh bein g targe ted for dive rs ifica ti on.

The cod fi shery was the cata lyst for ettl ement of numerous coas ta l comm unit ies

o n the is land o r Newfoundl and and throughout th e ew World, datin g back to the 16

ce ntury. Northwest Atlantic groundfi sh f isheri es increase d trade and indu tri a liza tion and

began to conn ect th e New World to Euro pe (Lea r 1 998). Initia ll y, cod was ab und ant ,

desp ite num cro u. nati ons sa iling to the north west Atl anti c to harvest the species and bri ng

it back to the ir home co untri e . Thi type of fo reign part icipation in the tishery posed

littl e threat to the stoc ks compa red to what th e future would bri ng. Wi th schoon r and

ins hore boats, powered by sail s and oa rs th e impact on the fis h stocks wa minor. In

addition. harvestin g was seaso na l wi th fishers co ming to ewfo un dland in the sp rin g and

returning home in the fa ll with boats full of sa lted cocl . The se ttle ment of ewf oundla nd

occurred when peop le were ass igned to stay ove r the w int er to protect the station. that had been built along the coast of' the island to 11al e and dry cod ( Ryan 1986).

Yields decrea ed and catch failures occu rred in the cod fishery a. early a the beginning of the 1 9'

ce ntury (Head 1976) . When ewfoundl and's resident population increased, migratory fish ing declined (Lear 1 998). and the inshore fishery increased (!l ead 1976). The reality that primarily inshore and relatively rudimentary technology could ca use such a decline in cod stocks sho uld have provi ded insight for modern management protocols. Later, a transportation and refrigeration technologies improved in the ea rl y 1900s, fish markets expanded. Gas powered engin es were used in the ewfoundl and inshore fishery by 19 1 0 ( DFO 1956) and the fir t commercia l trawler was introduced in ewfouncll and in 1935 (Lear 1998). For th commercia l offsho re enterpri ses, th e changes in th e fishery were po ·itive. The ca tches rose and harvesters were able to supply larger quantities of fish in less time. Both commercial and subsistence in hore fishers op posed the large trawl ers. argu ing that these methods wou ld red uce th e number of peo pl e emrloyed by the fisheries as \\'Cll as de trimentally affect the mi gratory stocks (Lear 1998 \ llow ever, concern surrounding the status of the resource base and the consequences of the new tech nology were minimal; the focus was on ca tching fi sh and making money.

Voices were raised in concern about the abundance of cod . rocks in the northwest At lantic as earl y as the l ate 1800 . . H owever, not much attention was paid to the matter, and biolog ica l productivity increased in the 20'

cen tury , al leviating any lingering

" Sec abo Miriam Wright ' . 1\ Fi. hcry for Modern Times for addit ional inf ormation and pcrsp..:cti\..:s on th..:

industriali;.ation of the N..:wfoundland fishing industry.

33

concern. By th e 1940s th ere wa little ev idenc e of overfi hing . Apprehensions aro e again aft e r the Province' s confedera ti on with Ca nada in 1949. Fi sheries regul ations became a matt er of federa l jurisdiction. and ewfo undland and Labrado r wa concerned abou t the impac t foreign overfish ing would have on the Prov in ce' primary fisheries reso urce. The 200 mil e EEZ declared anada's sovere ign right o er exp loitin g and di cove rin g marin e resource in side thi s are a. It is beli eved by man y that foreign overfish ing bef ore 1977 pla yed a s ignifi cant ro le in the declines in cod stoc ks. Many hoped th a t the EEZ would be a so lution to th e problem ( Rose 2007).

nlortunately, the problem was much larger th an genera ll y rea li?ed and call. for conse rva ti o n for many groundfish stock in the 1970s, inc luding cod and rcdfish, were large ly ignored. In fac t, little changed in the co d fi s hery until 1992, when the Honourabl e John Crosbie, then Mini ste r of Fisheries, announced a two yea r m ratorium for th e north wes t tl anti c cod stock . It was beli ve d that the moratorium would only l as t a few yea rs before a return to norm alcy. Fishery pa 1iicipant were d i idcd in their reaction to the c losure . Although it is fa ir to say that all w re di sappoin ted. some made concerted effort s to ent er other fi she ries in th e meantim e. But fewer participant s than expec ted left th e fi shery. With no end in s ight for the cod moratorium , attenti on turn ed to other spec ies that could rep lace cod in . upporting emp loyment and income levels in the fi . hin~..?.

ind ustry.

On the race of it, harvesting meth ods for redtish appear to make them an ideal

candidate for diversification ince the y are s imilar to those used in other groundfi sh

fishcrie . in ce redfi h are known to be a deep-water fish, deep-water trawler nets were

used to harve t th em from the tart. Even tua lly, it wa disco er d that redfish make

diurnal verti cal migrations at ni ght. which means th at they rise ofT th e ocea n bottom in sea rch or foo d (Pikanowsk i et al. 1999) . This inform ation changed the fi s hin g strateg ies for rc dfis h, and harves te rs began fi shing l or rcdfi sh 24 ho urs a day u in g mid-water trawlers (Kelly et al. 1972; Dawe 1976). The use of mid-water trawler began to create a type of fl eet separation in the rcdfi sh fi hcry in ce it was not economically viabl e or ph ys i ca ll y poss ible for smaller trawle rs to u c this gea r. This po eel seve re di advantages to mail er vesse l ow ners in th e form of in creased costs a ·so iated with gea r damage.

s ign ifica ntl y ma ile r ca tches than th e large r boat , and an increase in cod bycatch when s uc h mid-water trawl ers were u cd. imilar to th e experime nts th at handl ed th e small redfi . h bycatch problem, cod bycarch was addressed in tudi es conducted by the Depa rtment of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in 1 993 . Se mi -pelagic trawling was s uggested as a subs titut e for bottom trawling when large amo unts of cod arc present on redli sh fishing grounds. This method all owed harveste rs to lish for rcdfi sh th at were off the bottom of the ocean floor us in g th e bottom tra wling gea r a lready o utfitted on th e boat, avo iding the added cos t of purcha ing an ent ire mid-water trawling ystem. The use of a net monitor wa s also s uggested which could improve the ca tch substa ntially while co mbatin g th e juvenile cod bycatch problem (I learn 1 993 ).

Finding alternatives to th e declining groundfi sh stocks in ew foundland co ntinu e to be a priority because o f th e hi torica l importance of th e fi . hing indu try.

cw round la nd was bu i It around the fishing industry and ma II outp ort fishing com munities co ntinue to dot the coas tline of th e Prov ince . llowever. flu c tuations in reso urce ab unda nce or market demands crea te an unstable financial s ituation. particularl y detrimental when a region re lics . o heavily on one industry .

35