Write it down: Mandatory reporting considered for recreational cod fishery

With the Department of Fisheries and Oceans considering making changes to recreational fishing licences, anglers in Newfoundland and Labrador are concerned issues in other parts of Atlantic Canada will be given more attention.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the proposed changes would directly affect the recreational cod fishery, where mandatory online reporting may be a licence requirement.

DFO is calling on everyone with an interest in the recreational cod fishery to provide written feedback on the potential licence and logsystem, and the deadline isAug.31. But public feedback was gathered differently in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where face-to-face consultations took place in July and early August.

Barry Fordham of the Newfoundland Federation of Hunters and Anglers says people who take part in the recreational cod fishery in this province would have been better served if all provinces were given the same method of making contact.

"Even though DFO are taking written submissions, I think that just for us to be able to have the satisfaction, if you want, to be able to put forward our thoughts and recommendations so that what the Maritimes say will not directly influence us because it may not pertain to us at all."

I think that just for us to be able to have the satisfaction, if you want, to be able to put forward our thoughts and recommendations so that what the Maritimes say will not directly influence us.- Barry Fordham

Fordham supports the licence and logapproach, but maintains that every province and every fishery has its own issues.

He's worried the information that'sbeen gathered from the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick consultations may overshadow the written submissions from people in this province.

Last fall, DFO conducted face-to-face consultations regarding a separate change to the groundfish fishery: the implementation of a licence and tags system.

Patricia Williams, a senior resource manager in St. John's, said DFO will consider all recommendations, including those gathered during discussions last year.

"We aren't saying that we are definitely going to be moving ahead with implementing a licence and mandatory reporting requirements," Williams said.

"We're going to get the feedback and analyze that, and then decide options to go forward."

Once consultations conclude, any new rules will be implemented throughout all eastern Canadian provinces.

"We would like to be consistent across Atlantic provinces and Quebec, because that's the scope of what we've outlined in this consultation process," Williams said.