An often-unspoken cornerstone of Canadian culture is our tendency to distance ourselves on the world stage from our American neighbours when it comes to culture, lifestyle and a litany of other minute details.
What even less of us are likely to talk about, however, is just how much we can learn from our southern brethren. For example, Americans have a penchant for resisting governments that overstep their boundaries, a characteristic that we seem to be sorely lacking.
In an effort to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from becoming entangled in trap and pot buoy lines, the U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided to extend a two-year closure in a wedge between state and federal waters off the coast of Massachusetts to what could become a permanent closure.
Prior to 2021, a 200-square-mile area known as the “MRA Wedge” within the Massachusetts Restricted Area (MRA) allowed for harvesters to operate within the confines of right whale closures off the coast of Massachusetts. Since 2021, the wedge has also been closed off. Were this wedge to be permanently closed, as NOAA has planned, federal researchers estimate roughly $1.7 to $3-million dollars in lost revenue over five years for the handful of fish harvesters who utilize the MRA Wedge.
If this action was taken by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), there would of course be some outrage. Some would grumble and some might even protest, but eventually, there is a good chance that harvesters would accept the new normal set forth by our government and do their best to scrape by on what fishable areas the government has set aside for them.
South of our border, however, the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) has not sat idly by to what they describe as “recklessness” from NOAA.
“Unfortunately, it seems like industry groups like ours have no choice but to resort to the legal route,” said Dustin Delano, chief operating officer of the NEFSA.
True to their word, the association filed a lawsuit against NOAA over what they have called an “overreach” of their power. Moreover, NOAA’s reasoning for their closure stands on shaky footing out the gate. While researchers have confirmed that over 80 per cent of North American right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once, more than 90 per cent of these entanglements cannot be linked to any one type of gear — let alone pinning the demise of the species on a trap and pot fishery, like NOAA seems to be doing to New England harvesters.
NEFSA has pointed out that a plethora of other causes could be responsible for right whale fatalities, pointing more specifically at disruptions caused by offshore wind farms.
“I wish regulators treated fishermen as well as they treat foreign corporations,” said Delano. “Lobstermen have built up one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world, but regulators treat us like an invasive species. Meanwhile, the corporations industrializing our coasts are getting tax credits and official permission to harm marine species.”
Much like New England harvesters are struggling under the weight of NOAA regulations, Canadian harvesters are struggling under DFO. Contending with season-long closures and the upcoming implementation of lower breaking strength fishing gear, which has been shown time and time again to be unfit to stand up to the rough waters of the North Atlantic, has put undue pressure on the industry. It’s times like this that Canadian harvesters should take a page from the NEFSA playbook and “take the legal route” before the industry suffers more from the “recklessness” and “overreach” of our own federal government.
