Push and pull, as fishermen debate proposed tourist fishery

The notion that tourists should be able to drop a fishing line in the ocean all summer long has ignited a fierce debate on CBC Radio's The Broadcast.

Mussel Bed Boat Tours in Lewisporte is lobbying the federal government on behalf of 40 tour boat operators.

"We proposed that we would start the season the first of June and end it at the end of September or the first of October, and that we would retain two fish per tourist per trip," said Mussel Bed's owner Graham Wood.

"We were willing to use barbless hooks, to log all the data of the fish — location, size, you know different types of fish, different species of fish, and we would tag them."

It would be a big draw to tourists, he said, who want to go out on the water, catch a fish and then cook it up in a cove.

If the proposal is accepted, each tour boat would get 200 tags.

Voice of concern

​"That doesn't make any sense to me, right," said Bay de Verde fisherman Tony Doyle, who's against the proposal and worried about competition.

There's nothing to prevent fishermen from becoming tour boat operators in the seasons that they're not operating in the fishing industry.- Graham Wood

"They can catch fish on his vessel when he's out, but I'll still be sitting on the end of the wharf and waiting for a three week fishery."

The stock is still building, said Doyle, and is not big enough to support even a small commercial fishery.

However, Wood said the proposal could be an opportunity for fish harvesters to supplement their income.

"There's nothing to prevent fishermen from becoming tour boat operators in the seasons that they're not operating in the fishing industry," he said.

"They have all the equipment. They have the boat. They have the training."

Untapped potential

John Baird, a rural development consultant who has worked on a variety of studies related to the recreational fishery, agrees with Wood.

"I think the focus should be on building that opportunity around the fishermen and fisherwomen themselves," said Baird.

"They know the fishing grounds. They know where the fish can be caught. They know the safety factors in operating boats, and they're the best ones to build this product and deliver it."

Baird, who is also the mayor of Traytown, said there is untapped potential for fishers and tourism operators.

"You have the boat owner, you have the onshore accommodations, you have all the other services that are provided to people when they want to go out and catch a fish."

The economic benefit can be greater, he added, than from a commercial fishery, and he cited statistics from the American Sportsfishing Association.

"In 2011, they said the economic impact of the recreational fishery was $70 billion. In comparison the seafood sector had an economic impact of $129 billion," said Baird.

"But the kicker is that the sports fishery only killed five per cent of the fish and produced 35 per cent of the economic impact."

Baird said the tourist fishery could be monitored by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to prevent abuse and can be developed sustainably without interfering with the commercial fishery.

"There's always that perception that there's competition there … but a recreational or tourist based fishery doesn't have to take very much of the resource to create a good economic opportunity."

The timing is right, said Baird, with the low dollar attracting Americans to the province — and keeping Canadians at home.

"The other part of that win-win is that the cod stocks are coming back," he said.

"And if we manage it carefully we can build a tourist industry that will benefit rural Newfoundland and Labrador and that's what it's all about."

Highlighting history

It can also build on the province's history, said Kyle Vardy, who worked on tourism research projects while completing his graduate degree at Memorial University.

I'll still be sitting on the end of the wharf and waiting for a three week fishery.- Tony Doyle

"To me, that is such an important part of us telling our story," said Vardy. "This is what we did for hundreds of years."

Vardy said the experience would show tourists how hard fishers work.

"What I would say to these people is that this is a celebration of your craft," he said.

"What I'm talking about here is small quantities of fish with clear lines of what's acceptable and what's not, and making sure that we use this as a way to promote our province."

Vardy said it would also be a way of expanding the tourism industry without spending a lot of extra money on infrastructure.

The tour boat operators hope for a decision on their proposal before the summer of 2016.