PCs call on DFO to expand food fishery

Progressive Conservative leader Tony Wakeham is calling on the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to expand the province’s food fishery. On Wednesday the Stephenville–Port au Port MHA issued a statement asking Premier John Hogan to join him in pushing for a recreational cod fishery that would allow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to fish for cod seven days a week between July 1 and Oct. 1, arguing the expanded season would “boost local economies, support tourism, and improve safety on the water.”

“Newfoundlanders and Labradorians deserve fair access to a tradition that’s part of who we are,” Wakeham said in the statement. “Expanding the fishery gives people the flexibility to fish safely and responsibly, without being forced onto the water only on weekends.”

Wakeham cited an incident off Crawley’s Point in Conception Bay on June 28, the opening day of this year’s food fishery, when a boat capsized. Two people were rescued after the RCMP, Coast Guard and members of the Harbour Main-Chapen’s Cove-Lakeview volunteer fire department launched a rescue operation.

The PCs said the incident is a “clear reminder of the risks created by a weekend-only schedule that pressures people onto the water in limited timeframes.”

Wakeham also took aim at federal Fisheries Minister and St. John’s East MP Joanne Thompson, asking her to listen to the people of the province, who have been calling for an expanded food fishery for years.

Last month DFO announced an expanded commercial Northern cod fishery, prompting allegations of political decision-making against scientific evidence that suggests Northern cod stocks need to recover more before their total allowable catch (TAC) is increased in the commercial sector. The announcement didn’t include any expansion of the food fishery, but in its news release DFO said it will “launch public consultations [to] gather input on [the food] fishery, and discuss the distinct differences in the health of the province’s three cod populations.

“While the stocks on the south and west coasts remain in the Critical Zone, the Northern cod stock status has improved,” the statement reads. “Recognizing the importance of cod to coastal communities, the management measures for the recreational groundfish fishery will remain unchanged for 2025.”

Wakeham said the promise of consultations “is too little, too late,” and that other Atlantic provinces “are allowed to fish seven days a week during the recreational fishery. Once again, Newfoundland and Labrador is being left behind.”

If the PCs form government in the upcoming provincial election, Wakeham said, his party “will stand up to Ottawa and fight for what matters most to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.”

On June 18 DFO announced this year’s food fishery would run Saturdays to Mondays from June 28 until Sept. 1, with a fall fishery open the week of Sept. 20-28.