Cod season off to a slow start

Published on July 19, 2010

Published on July 17, 2010

Brodie Thomas

Two weeks into the cod fishing season, some fishers are raising concerns about the numbers and size of cod in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but others say there's nothing unusual.Codroy fisher Roy Fowlow said he has only been bringing out one crewmember on his 34-foot vessel when he usually takes three. He said the low prices are bad enough, but the catches this year are disheartening.

"There's nothing. It's devastating," he said. "I've caught 300 pounds on six tubs [of gear]. Three or four years ago you could get eight or nine hundred pounds on a tub."

A tub of gear is a line of about 300 baited hooks.

Mr. Fowlow also tried jigging some cod off MacDougall's, just to get a feel for where the cod are.

"On a handline you could usually jig 800 pounds. I only got 140 pounds," he said.

He said he is worried that after several good years in the middle of the decade, quotas have been set too high and stocks have not had a chance to rebuild.

"You've got a big population of seal, over 6 million. You've got the seiners interfering with the food chain, taking the capelin, mackerel, and herring," he said.

"One time on MacDougall's beach, you use to see it rolling with capelin. It's been two years since I've been able to get a feed of them for myself down there."

While fishers have expressed concerns about low catches, not everyone is worried just yet.

In Margaree, Ivan Stone was preparing tubs of gear for the cod fishery last Wednesday. He said he has been getting 100 pounds of fish on a tub of gear, or about double what Mr. Fowlow reported. He said the fish are a good size, 22 to 30 inches, but he had to go far to get them.

"We never did get much around here this time of year," said Mr. Stone. "The fall is the best time of year for cod."

Jason Spingle, west coast representative for the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW), said the catches so far this year are comparable to last year.

"Two weeks into the season it's too early to draw too many conclusions yet," he said.

"If it comes October or November and people aren't participating, that'll be a different story."

Mr. Spingle noted that last year was an atypical season, with lower catch rates and smaller fish reported. The total allowable catch (TAC) for the gulf fishery in 2009 was never completely caught. In response to those poor catch rates, DFO slashed the TAC by 40 per cent.

Fishers are getting around 50 cents per pound for their catch this year.

reporter@gulfnews.ca