When the cod moratorium was announced in 1992, Greg Pretty was among the livid fish harvesters upset at the shutdown of their livelihood.
Limit reference point represents the stock status below which serious harm is occurring to the stock.The new model and LRP show that northern cod is no longer in the critical zone and actually seems to have been in the cautious zone above the LRP since 2016. FFAW asks for quota increases, full northern cod assessment following 2023 stewardship fishery closure“This is an incredible, magnificent day for the province,” said Pretty in an interview from Ottawa airport after meetings with the federal government.
“For those who had us written off, for the companies that wanted to get rid of us and do it for themselves, we are back in the game here and it will be done differently this time.”“That’s quite the stark contrast from our last assessment in 2021 which put us at pretty much 99 per cent chance that we were in the critical zone,” he said.
While it would be a boon to local economies and the province as a whole, Pretty said this latest news also means some important work needs to be done before next year’s fishery. “That has to proceed together. It can’t be done in isolation. We have to have companies that are prepared to get back into cod and to start developing their own markets.”