Fishermen allowed to fish close to shore in Gulf of St. Lawrence after right whale sighting
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has updated its prohibition on a fishing area off the coast of New Brunswick’s Acadian Peninsula due to the presence of an endangered North Atlantic right whale, allowing fishermen to work close to the shore.
DFO says it instituted a 15-day temporary fishing area closure in Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 23 C on May 17 after a right whale was spotted in shallow waters east of Miscou Island.
After a meeting on Thursday between the federal fisheries minister and industry representatives, the order was updated to allow fishermen to fish close to the shore.
"We had a productive discussion about how to address the pressing threat facing the endangered North Atlantic Right Whales, while accounting for the very real impacts on our lobster harvesters and the communities in which they reside," reads a Thursday evening statement from federal fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier.
"I have asked DFO to convene a meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee on North Atlantic Right Whales which includes representatives of the industry and whale experts to review the existing protocol. It is crucial that we achieve the right balance in protecting these whales and while minimizing the impact on the fishing industry wherever possible."
Fishermen affected by closures
The Maritime Fishermen’s Union previously held at meeting Wednesday night in Sainte-Marie-Saint-Raphaël to discuss the initial full closure with affected fishermen.
Martin Mallet, executive director of the union, said this situation should never have happened.
"We heard the news about the whale sighting on Friday afternoon, but when we looked at the actual water depth where the whale was observed, it was over the 10 fathom limit so it should have never closed the inshore area within that so the fishermen would have never had to take their traps out of the water from the get go, so this could have been solved if Ottawa would have listened to us," he said. "The problem in is Ottawa is they were looking at some other version of the maps that we were looking and on these maps the whale was at 9.5 fathom.
"I mean, we’re tripping on details here. At the end of the day we had a potential crisis where fishermen would have lost, and their communities, over $40-60 million within two weeks of lost fishing days, right?”
Russell Vibert, a lobster fisherman, said he was happy to find out fishing near the shore would be allowed.
"We only have two months to fish, so 15 days out of those two months is a long time, so it’s a big loss, a big hit for us," he said. "Today the minister, like I said, sent DFO out on the water to confirm that the whale was actually outside of that 10 fathom line and when that was confirmed, she is going to allow us to fish now within the 10 fathom.”
Austin Vibert, a former fisherman with Ghost Gear Disappear Inc., said ropeless gear could help reduce the risk for whales.
“Nobody wants to go out and harm a whale and they all want to go out and fish so the only way to do both is adapt a new solution," he said.
With files from CTV's Sarah Plowman.
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6940852.1719359435!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
BREAKING WikiLeaks' Assange pleads guilty in deal with U.S. that secures his freedom, ends legal fight
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to a single felony charge for publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that secures his freedom and concludes a drawn-out legal saga that raised divisive questions about press freedom and national security.
One of Canada's most popular vehicles recalled over transmission issue; 95,000 impacted
One of the country's most popular vehicles is being recalled in Canada due to a transmission issue that may impact tens of thousands of drivers.
'We need to regroup,' says Liberal minister and Ontario campaign co-chair in light of byelection loss
A member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet and the party's Ontario co-chair for the next campaign says the Liberals 'need to regroup' after a shocking overnight byelection loss to Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives.
'Truly a great British Columbian': Former B.C. premier John Horgan has cancer again
Former B.C. premier and current Canadian ambassador to Germany John Horgan has been diagnosed with cancer for a third time.
Electric vehicle infrastructure lags in Prairie provinces
The Prairies, along with Newfoundland and Labrador, trail the rest of the country in electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure.
Pre-med students can't take MCAT in Quebec because of Bill 96
Areeba Ahmed says she's always dreamed of becoming a surgeon but her road to the operating room has become a complicated one ever since Quebec's French language law came into effect.
Cup Noodles serves up notoriously poisonous pufferfish
Pufferfish is regarded as a luxury in Japan and a meal featuring the potentially poisonous delicacy can easily cost up to 20,000 yen (US$125) at high-end restaurants.
Workers rescued after swing stage ropes break outside 56th floor of downtown Toronto hotel
Two workers have been rescued after some of the ropes holding up a swing stage atop a soaring downtown Toronto hotel broke.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.