The Canadian federal government’s tag system for the recreational cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador may not come into effect next season.
Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc remarked Monday that he “wouldn’t say” that the proposed system, which has drawn some criticism, is set in stone for 2017.
“All we’re doing now is a consultation exercise,” he said.
The proposal, which was revealed in the spring, will require recreational fishermen to buy a licence before they leave the wharf and tag each fish they catch.
Consultations for the implementation of the system started last week, and LeBlanc said he has asked the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to look at expanding the public consultation to communities where sessions were not originally planned.
DFO has said the proposed licensing and tagging system will help track how many cod are taken during the recreational fishery.
But opposition to the plan was swift from environmental concerns about more plastic in the ocean to hindering economic potential.
LeBlanc insisted a tag and licensing system is not meant to be a hurdle.
“It’s not intended to restrict people from being able to participate,” he said.
“It’s intended to allow us to make the best decisions with the best evidence possible on how to rebuild that iconic stock for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and the people of Canada.”
LeBlanc said the federal government is still at the information-gathering stage.
“Once this consultation is complete we’ll obviously talk to representatives of the industry, of the recreational fishing sector, and the province and be able to make decisions,” he said.
“Certainly some have advocated that we should move quickly. I think there is a lot of merit in understanding how that could be done in a way that’s fair for the people of the province.”
LeBlanc says putting the tag and licensing system in place for 2017 is “certainly one option,” but he doesn’t have the exact information related to any regulatory changes that would be required to enact the new rules.
He said DFO staff who have attended the consultation sessions so far say people have a range of different opinions on the issue.
“People had all kinds of innovative ideas of ways to do this, so, frankly, we want to benefit from that and then we’ll decide.”
2016 CBC/Radio-Canada