This group wants to call it quits (for now) on the capelin fishery

An oceans advocacy group is calling for a halt to Newfoundland and Labrador's capelin fishery in the wake of its fears about overfishing, arguing that despite government assertions to the contrary, a temporary quota reduction will give the stock time to recover.

The Department of Fisheries recently rolled over the amount that capelin could be fished from the previous year, when it established Newfoundland and Labrador's capelin quota at 14,533 tonnes.

 Non-profit advocacy organization Oceana Canada says that number is too high.

"There was no rationale for that decision on this capelin quota. This is the same quota we've now had for three years. While in those three years, we've had great advances in our understanding of the capelin stock," said Jack Daly, a marine scientist with the organization.

For the first time in 30 years, capelin is in the critical zone, he said. "That essentially means the population is in an unhealthy state, and it [has a] limited ability to rebuild."

Capelin are also an integral part of the ecosystem because they're forage fish, he said.

"They're really that fish that transfers the energies from the microscopic plankton up to northern cod puffins and whales."

Daly points to studies that show a link between rebuilding a healthy cod stock and an abundance of capelin.

"We've seen 30 years of mismanagement," he said. "It's really unconscionable for the government to continue managing it in the same way without updating their processes … for the modern era."

In a statement to CBC News, the DFO defended its decision, pointing to a 2023 stock assessment that the capelin biomass is stable and environmental conditions for capelin production are positive.

It also stated the decision to maintain the rollover is a balanced approach for supporting a healthy species and its importance to coastal communities.

"Science indicates the impact of fishing on the … capelin stock is likely minimal compared to predation by other species in the ecosystem such as cod, other finfish species and seabirds," it stated.

Managing capelin differently

Countries like Iceland and Norway manage their fisheries differently, said Daly. When those jurisdictions see a fish stock is low, they stop harvesting and let it grow back.

"What we're doing instead is fishing a stock at this low level for 30 years, and that's resulted in actual ecological and physiological change," said Daly.

"Capelin are spawning later. They're maturing earlier. We have a really truncated age structure, so normally we used to see capelin up to four or five years old. Now we're seeing them only get to two years old. So this is a major concern of the impact of this fishery on the future of capelin."

When people head to the beach to catch the capelin rolling in, they're getting them after they've spawned and are almost dead, he said. But the commercial fishery targets baby capelin before they can reproduce. He also noted the commercial catch isn't for local consumption but is exported to places like Japan and Eastern Europe to become sushi and canned fish.

"The economic part of the fishery is not focused on food for Newfoundlanders, it's focused on an export-oriented market and a price that's declining year after year with less of an economic impact," he said.

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