http://www.beautyofwildlife.blogspot.com/Atlantic cods in Canada are starving



  

Once upon a time Atlantic cod was supposed to be abundant and thriving in the ocean. It is now in the list of endangered species. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has designated populations of Atlantic cod as endangered and threatened in Canada. The population of Atlantic cod in the Newfoundland and Labrador was found to be endangered. A decline in cod has been marked off the northeast coast of Newfoundland and Labrador and the species has essentially vanished from the offshore.

Causes of decline

·       According to COSEWIC, fishing has become the main cause of threat to the cod.

·       Department of Fisheries and Oceans said that predation by seals could be the cause of the cod's disappearance.

·       One of the other remarkable causes is the exploitation of the older, mature fish from these stocks due to the increasing fishing pressure.

·       excessive seal predation and

·       Adverse environmental conditions, which lead directly and indirectly to poor survival of, fish (often ultimately starvation). 

Biophysical dimensions and species status

The collapsed stocks range from southern Labrador to the continental shelf off eastern Nova Scotia. The primary cause for the collapse of fish stock in Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland is thought to arise from the inability to control fishing mortality. The cod fishery had a border area “4X’ which extended southward from Halifax. Afterwards, it covered the more productive area of southwest Nova/Bay of Fundy area.  The fishes dwelt near the northeastern part of “4X” in waters, which borders the closed area, “4VsW".

Population abundance is thought to be affected by the several years of poor recruitment. Environmental conditions such as low water temperatures, reduced salinity, increased seal predation, and decreased food abundance became the cause of high mortality during the egg, larval, or juvenile stages. Besides appearing lean, the cod caught appears rather to have a grossly altered body shape, a flattened stomach profile and almost a ‘humpback’ in comparison to the standard codfish shape. The orientation of the head is more downward looking, giving the overall impression that this fish is a bottom-feeder.

COSEWIC submitted an assessment of Atlantic cod in May 2003. Within that assessment, four Atlantic cod populations were identified and assessed to be at various degrees of risk (Table 1).

Table 1: Atlantic cod populations

COSEWIC Population	COSEWIC Designation	NAFO Fishing Areas
Newfoundland and Labrador	Endangered	2GH, 2J3KL, 3NO
Laurentian North	Threatened	4RS3Pn, 3Ps
Maritimes	Special Concern	4TVn, 4VsW, 4X, 5ZEj,m
Arctic	Special Concern	0A, 0B

Socioeconomic Concern

Throughout Atlantic Canada, however most pronounced in Newfoundland, the cod fishery was a source of social and cultural identity. For many families, it also represented their livelihood: most families were connected either directly or indirectly with the fishery as fishers, fish plant workers, fish sellers, fish transporters, or as employees in related businesses. ^]Additionally, many companies, both foreign and domestic, as well as individuals, had invested heavily in the boats, equipment and the infrastructure of the fishery, and therefore felt it was in their best interest to maintain an open-access policy to the ocean and its resources. What is in the individuals best interest is not always in the best interest of a society as whole. In recreational fishing season, the cod fishery has a limit of five fish per person per day and 15 fish per boat if there were three or more aboard in place for this fishing season. It is the same limit as last year with no season limit, except an accumulation of the daily limits. Cod was designated by COSEWIC as a “special concern” in April 1998 with some populations deemed “threatened” or “endangered” by May 2003. At that time, the government rejected COSEWIC’s recommendation to list the cod as endangered because of “socio-economic” concerns.

Stakeholder

Fifteen communal commercial licenses, that may include cod, issued to Aboriginal groups in the Newfoundland and Labrador Region. On the Island of Newfoundland, the Miawpukek First Nation (Conne River Band), adjacent to NAFO Division 3Ps, holds six licenses and the Federation of Newfoundland Indians (FNI) has three. In Labrador, the Labrador Métis Nation (LMN) has one; the Labrador Inuit Association (Nunatsiavut Government) holds four.  Four First Nations in the Gaspé region of Quebec have commercial ground fish licenses. In addition, seven Aboriginal communities on the North Shore of Quebec hold seven Ground fish licenses. These North Shore communities also have access to a total allocation of 79 tones of cod for food, social and ceremonial purposes.

Past attempts at solving the problems

As part of a species recovery plan under SARA, the stock management included closures of directed cod fisheries, as well as by-catch restrictions in other fisheries. These kinds of restrictions are commonly implemented in order to control fishing mortality, to protect and prevent further decline of the stock, and where possible, promote growth and recovery of the population in question. DFO Fisheries and Aquaculture Management Sector developed potential stock management for the Laurentian North and Newfoundland and Labrador cod populations. The management scenarios are:

1)      No directed fishery (either keeping the moratorium in place or closing a current directed fishery, as the case may be)-permissible by-catch levels remain unchanged;

2)      Prioritized re-building (no directed fishery, reduce harm from by-catch by 50%);

3)      Maximum rebuilding (no directed fishery, reduce by-catch to zero by closing all fisheries in which cod is incidental).

Cod recovery strategies and action plans also included other management options such as area/time closures, gear restrictions, reduced total allowable catches (TACs), increased monitoring and enforcement, and measures to control (protect) predator (prey) species.

In the case of Newfoundland and the Northern Cod fishery, maximizing the individual catch was in their best interest. However, when the government failed to intervene – due to the political discourse created by the expansive group of stakeholders – the ecosystem collapsed. When the government finally became active, it was too late. The 1992 moratorium was initially meant to last two years, with the hopes that the Northern Cod population would recover the fishery. Unfortunately, the damage done to Newfoundland’s coastal ecosystem was deep-rooted and the Northern Cod population has failed to rebound.  The Cod Fishery remains closed.

Recommendations

Government control of fisheries desperately tried to prevent overfishing. However, their policies and legislation only created negative incentives and did not prevent the over exploitation of many economically important fisheries including Atlantic cod.  The implementation of individual transferable quotas can have many positive effects on fisheries, including the primary objective of a sustainable fishery reducing overfishing.  Therefore individual transferable quotas are one of the viable solutions for reducing overfishing and preventing stock collapses. In addition, the other best solution available can be mentioned as follows:

·        shutting down the offshore capelin fishery in the Canadian zone;

·        banning the harvesting of cod by trawlers during peak spawning season;

·        allowing the traditional inshore fishery to continue to operate without catch limits;

·        limiting the catches of larger inshore vessels operating in offshore areas;

·        possibly placing further limits on the fall offshore fishery to ensure minimum Canadian catches; and

·        establishing an independent panel to advise the federal government on the use of foreign vessels and foreign allocations within the Canadian zone;

·        options for voluntary early retirement for older fishermen and plant workers;

·        voluntary retirement of fishing licenses for those who choose to leave the fishery;

·        skills training outside the fishery, especially for younger participants;

·        professionalization and certification for those who choose to remain in the fishery;

·        measures to deal with the costs faced by vessel owners to maintain vessels made idle by the moratorium;

·        a test fishery to determine harvesting practices for a sustainable fishery; and

·        working with fish processors to seek new sources of fish for northern cod plants

REFERENCES

1)      Cochrane, Kevern. “Reconciling Sustainability, Economic Efficiency and Equity in Fisheries: the One that Got Away.” Fish and Fisheries 1 (2000): 3-21.

2)      Dayton, Paul, et al. “Environmental Effects of Marine Fishing.” Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 5 (1995): 205-232.

3)      Dolan, Holly, et al. “Restructuring and Health in Canadian Coastal Communities.” EcoHealth 2 (2005): 195-208.

4)      Hamilton, Lawrence, and Melissa J. Butler. “Outport Adaptations: Social Indicators through Newfoundland’s Cod Crisis.” Human Ecology Review 8.2 (2001): 1-11.

5)      Hamilton, Lawrence, et al. “Above and Below the Water: Social/Ecological Transformation in Northwest Newfoundland.” Population and Environment 25.3 (2004): 195-215.

6)      Hutchings, Jeffrey. “Spatial and Temporal Variation in the Density of Northern Cod a Review of Hypotheses for the Stock’s Collapse.” Canadian Journal of Aquatic Science 53 (1996): 943-962.

7)      Keating, Michael. “Media, fish and Sustainability.” National Round Table on Environment and Economy February (1994).

8)      http://www.fisherycrisis.com/nscod.htm

9)      http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2003/2003-05-02-03.asp

10)   http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/cbio/cancod.html

11)   http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cod/

12)   http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2003/2003-05-02-03.asp

13)   http://www.fmap.ca/ramweb/papers-total/why_do_fish.pdf

14)   http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/reports-rapports/cod-morue/cod_morue_e.pdf

Ezaz Akhtar

SN: 207037971