The Canadian Press Following a decades-long moratorium on redfish, East Coast fishers are expected to begin harvesting the distinctive reddish-orange colored species later this month in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The federal Fisheries Department announced last week that the fishery, which has been closed since 1995, could reopen as early as June 15 with a total allowable catch of 60,000 tonnes for 2024-25. Non-profit conservation group Oceana says while the reopening represents a new and \u201chopeful chapter\u201d for the Atlantic fishery, it questions the new catch limit. Rebecca Schijns, a fishery scientist with the group, said the new quota is much higher than the minimum allowable catch of 25,000 tonnes that was announced in January. \u201cIf we are looking just at the redfish population the quota is relatively suitable… <\/p>\n
The Canadian Press Following a decades-long moratorium on redfish, East Coast fishers are expected to begin harvesting the distinctive reddish-orange colored species later this month in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The federal Fisheries Department announced last week that the fishery, which has been closed since 1995, could reopen as early as June 15 with a total allowable catch of 60,000 tonnes for 2024-25. Non-profit conservation group Oceana says while the reopening represents a new and \u201chopeful chapter\u201d for the Atlantic fishery, it questions the new catch limit. Rebecca Schijns, a fishery scientist with the group, said the new quota is much higher than the minimum allowable catch of 25,000 tonnes that was announced in January. \u201cIf we are looking just at the redfish population the quota is relatively suitable... <\/p>\n