FISH-NL Calls for Halt to Fishing of Northern Shrimp

The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling for an immediate halt to the fishing of northern shrimp by factory-freezer trawlers.

The reason for the request is due to dwindling stock off the coast and southern Labrador.

Known as area 6, FISH-NL calls on the the federal government to reserve the limited quota solely for the inshore fleet, and ban fishing altogether when shrimp are spawning.

FISH-NL also wants the federal government to assign a quota of northern shrimp to the inshore fleet further north in area 5.

Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL, says, “priority must be given to the inshore harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador — the economic pillars of our rural communities who are adjacent to the northern shrimp resource.”