FFAW-Unifor

Last week, the Government of Canada announced the end of the Northern cod moratorium and broke a decades-long commitment to ensure the first 115,000mt of Northern cod goes to coastal communities. This year, we have a quota of around 19,000mt and Justin Trudeau has already allowed offshore dragger access, and broke his promise to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. Fish harvesters are calling for Trudeau, Diane Lebouthiller, Seamus O'Regan, Gudie Hutchings, Churence Rogers, Joanne Thompson to do the right thing and stand up for the historical commitment made to this province. Sign the official House of Commons Petition: https://lnkd.in/eqxTiH6P Learn more: www.saveourcod.ca

🖊🔵WHY THE NAFO EXCUSE IS INVALID: LIBERAL MPS KOWTOW PARTY LINE AFTER BREAKING HISTORICAL AGREEMENT ON NORTHERN COD Letter from Courtney Glode FFAW-Unifor Director of Public Affairs Gudie Hutchings was recently asked at an unrelated media event why the federal government chose to break a 40-plus year commitment to Newfoundland and Labrador and prematurely reopen the commercial cod fishery to offshore draggers. Her response was that they have a commitment to NAFO and that when the commercial fishery opens, they must give NAFO a cut. There was absolutely no basis and no industry or scientific basis for ending the northern cod moratorium and to say there was consultation or support is both false and disingenuous. Under Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and Minister Diane Lebouthillier, our federal government has given away over 60% of a new redfish fishery to the corporate dragger fleet leaving small boat harvesters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to fail economically. Seasonal workers have been told point-blank by the likes of Gudie Hutchings and Randy Boissonnault that no improvements are coming to the antiquated EI system until Canadians re-elect the Liberals in the next federal election. Now, at a total catch of less than 20,000 tons, the Canadian federal government is letting offshore draggers back onto the northern cod fishery. Just to put this into perspective, the quota was 190,000 tons two years before the moratorium was called. Science and industry alike have demanded a reversal of the decision – calling Minister Lebouthillier’s call short-sighted and damaging to the continued rebuilding of the historic stock. Not to mention the 40-plus year agreement that promised the first 115,000mt of quota to the small-boat harvesters and Indigenous groups. It was a promise Trudeau himself reaffirmed in 2015 and again by his Minister in 2021. Despite a federal injunction filed by FFAW-Unifor, NAFO is pushing forward to get the quotas allocated to draggers as soon as possible. Domestic draggers like OCI are chomping at the bit to get back onto pre-spawning aggregations – aiming to set their fishery for months where fish coalesce for annual breeding activities. It’s heartbreaking to the people who invest their lives in this industry to see it managed so irresponsibly, by people like Gudie Hutchings and Diane Lebouthillier, who are evidently more concerned with keeping the offshore lobbyists happy than having integrity and a backbone. Short-term political gain with offshore lobbyists rather than upholding the best science and policy has become the new federal standard. While Gudie may be “delighted” that Newfoundland and Labrador fishery workers have been brazenly wronged, we’ll be sure to remember it come next election time. READ MORE: https://lnkd.in/dbX49fRx

However they try to spin the narrative, it just doesn't add up. Fish harvesters, scientists, ENGOs, current and former politicians (including Premier Andrew Furey), and concerned citizens alike have sounded the alarm on the decision. Reverse the decision to end the moratorium. Reinstate the Stewardship Fishery and reaffirm the 115,000mt commitment. Nothing less will do. www.saveourcod.ca

LETTER: The corporatization of northern cod – companies like OCI trying to pull the wool over our eyes "The offshore lobby is certainly strong and it’s clear Diane Lebouthillier is easily influenced by deep pockets. The 115,000mt commitment is historically referenced dozens of times; as recently as in the 2021 management plan for 2J3KL Groundfish, by Dominic Leblanc in 2016, in a 2015 letter from Justin Trudeau, and as early as 1977 through 1982 with the Kirby Report and then-Fisheries Minister, Romeo Leblanc. Specifically, the promise was that the first 115,000mt of 2J3KL northern cod quota would be allocated only to inshore and Indigenous groups, before corporate offshore dragger groups gained access. This was to reflect the economic, historical, and cultural dependency the inshore fleet has on the northern cod."

However they try to spin the narrative, it just doesn't add up. Fish harvesters, scientists, ENGOs, current and former politicians (including Premier Andrew Furey), and concerned citizens alike have sounded the alarm on the decision. Reverse the decision to end the moratorium. Reinstate the Stewardship Fishery and reaffirm the 115,000mt commitment. Nothing less will do. www.saveourcod.ca

In 2015, Justin Trudeau made a commitment to uphold the 115,000mt commitment for Northern cod. This commitment is more than just an arbitrary number. It signifies the historical and cultural dependency inshore harvesters have for both Northern cod and adjacency. This 115,000mt promise is more than 50 years old, with references to the need for inshore harvesters to be primary beneficiaries of adjacent resources over and over again throughout Canadian history as early as the 1960's. The promise was first put into policy in 1982. It was repeated throughout the years, and after the 1992 collapse of cod, it became even more important to the people and province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Trudeau reaffirmed it in 2015. Minister Dominic Leblanc reaffirmed it in 2016. Minister Bernadette Jordan put it into writing once again in 2021. But Diane Lebouthiller broke that decades long promise last month and at a total allowable catch of just ~19,000t, she has ended the cod moratorium and permitted the corporate offshore dragger fleet access. In 1991, just 1 year before the complete collapse and closure of Northern cod, the total allowable catch for all fleets was 190,000t. And yet, we have only rebuilt just over 6% of this amount and our Government is bringing back in the draggers. It's abhorrent. It's immoral. It's egregious. And it must be stopped. Fish harvesters, scientists, ENGOs, current and former politicians (including Premier Andrew Furey), and concerned citizens alike have sounded the alarm on the decision. Reverse the decision to end the moratorium. Reinstate the Stewardship Fishery and reaffirm the 115,000mt commitment. Nothing less will do. www.saveourcod.ca

The Government of Canada is corporatizing our public resources by ending the moratorium on cod. This is NOT good news. It's a simple fact that the inshore fishery does far more for the economic sustainability of our province than do offshore, factory-freezer trawlers. 10,000 owner-operator harvesters and crew members live and work in our province – making a living in the fishery, landing their product here to be processed here, spending their money here, and raising their families here. The call for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reinstate the Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador and reaffirm the 115,000mt commitment to protect the inshore fishery is critical to the future of our province. We’re experiencing a federal blunder of epic proportions that is not only legally questionable, it also flies in the face of the federal Fisheries Act and DFO’s mandate. The offshore lobby is certainly strong and it’s clear Diane Lebouthillier is easily influenced by deep pockets. Learn more and sign the petition: www.saveourcod.ca Justin Trudeau Seamus O'Regan Joanne Thompson Churence Rogers Gudie Hutchings Diane Lebouthiller