A local advocacy group for inshore harvesters is calling DFO’s decision not to extend the halibut fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence a “damning indictment” of the federal department’s safety culture.
That’s according to Merv Wiseman, an outspoken search and rescue advocate and member of SEA-NL.
SEA-NL says many harvesters were unable to catch their quotas in the area due to poor weather.
Wiseman says DFO is essentially telling harvesters if they don’t go to sea because of bad weather, they’ll lose their fish.
He says “putting extra pressure on fishermen to make decisions contrary to safety is a recipe for disaster” that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have seen play out “too many times.”