» There’s probably no cod…. - Greenpeace Canada weblogs

August 12th, 2009

…but that doesn’t stop DFO from praying to cod that fishing them will bring them back. And that’s despite their own scientists’ recommendations. I mean, for the love of cod DFO, a ’stewardship’ fishery?

Stewardship implies responsible caretaking…. is it responsible to allow fishing on a stock that while tryyying with all its might to rebuild, still only remains at 8% of 1980s levels…..which is only 1/3 of 1960s levels? Those fishing may be doing so in good faith, but will future generations look back and feel that way when the Atlantic cod off Canada’s east coast has become merely a legend?

And a recreational fishery? I mean good cod, call me crazy but I see little fun in fishing a species to extinction. “Oh my cod, I caught the last one!”

Most people don’t know that 4 of the cod populations off Canada were listed in 2003 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada(COSEWIC).

Newfoundland and Labroador- endangered

Northern gulf cod- threatened

Maritimes cod- special concern

Arctic cod- special concern

COSEWIC is charged with determining species at risk status under the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA) and generally once a species has been listed by COSEWIC it undergoes assessment for legal protection under SARA where, if accepted by the Government, it would place heavy restrictions on any form of harm to the population or habitat, in addition to requiring the development and implementation of a formal rebuilding plan.

But, not the cod.

In April 2006, the federal government announced that it would not list cod stocks under SARA but instead, comprehensive recovery plans for cod would be completed and DFO would “continue to pursue strong conservation measures with the provinces, fishers and key stakeholders.”

Why? Cause that meant fishing the cod couldn’t take place and it was felt the social and economic costs would be too great.

It strikes me as odd that likely the most devastating fisheries collapse of all time happened on Canada’s watch, causing thousands of people to be put out of work, the backbone of communities to be broken and an ecological catastrophe to lead to the transformation of ecosystems, but NOW DFO feels that conserving the remaining cod comes at too great of a social and economic cost.

Of course pressure from the fishing community is often what drives these decisions and the short term pain seems to cloud the longterm gain that could come from protecting what little cod remains, but instead year after year the choice is short term gain with inevitable longterm pain. In this case, longterm pain means robbing future generations of a taste of a way of life that shaped the culture of many coastal towns. It means not giving them a choice to fish for cod, as the choice was removed in the early ’90s when the cod collapsed. Will fishing the cod in St. Johns be shied away from as it will be seen as the kiss of death? I hope to cod that’s not the case as I’ve already kissed one.

Despite all the debate around whether the cod are healthy enough to be fished, barely surviving or on their way out, if we all agree that lots of cod is the goal, isn’t it better to do everything possible to ensure their recovery? Even if, for now, that means leaving them alone.

Greenpeace launched an ad campaign spoofing the ‘There’s probably no God” campaign that raised many an eyebrow in cities across Canada and abroad. Greenpeace’s ad is a more light-hearted approach to clearly a very serious issue, but the message remains clear and simple: ‘There’s probably no cod. Now let’s stop overfishing & think of the future.”

billboard

No matter what you think about the cod issue, one things for certain- if we fish it all, there won’t be any left. And Cod help us all if DFO doesn’t learn from past mistakes and act before it’s too late.