September 27th, 2016 — As we move ever closer to a revival of the commercial cod fishery, insiders say it’s essential the focus be on quality over quantity, and that means there may be no place for the controversial gillnet.
That was one of the messages delivered Monday in St. John’s to members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, and no one said it more forcefully than John Efford.
“Take every gillnet in Newfoundland and have a bonfire,” Efford, a former provincial and federal politician with deep ties to the fishery, told the committee.
Only premium products acceptable
The committee is studying the northern cod stock, and preparing for a day when the resource is once again healthy enough to sustain a large-scale commercial fishery.
There’s different opinions on when that might be, but there appears to be unanimous support for a fishery that delivers premium quality products to the marketplace, therefore yielding the highest possible price for those who take part.
Efford says there’s no place for gillnets in such a fishery because quality suffers, and the market will not tolerate it.
Some say between 80 and 90 per cent of the commercial cod fishery is landed by gillnets, fixed gear that entangles cod by the gills as they swim along.
Critics say fish are often left in the water too long, and quality suffers. And that’s an opinion shared by Provincial Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Steve Crocker.
“Gillnets are not our preferred way of harvesting,” Crocker told reporters.
He said countries like Iceland are slowly eliminating gillnets, and it’s paying off.
“Harvesting techniques play a very important role in quality,” he said.