Redfish return sparks Atlantic race to cash in on reopening of commercial fishery

A federal Fisheries Department moratorium on commercial fishing of redfish was imposed in the area in 1995 and has remained in place ever since.

It’s been 26 years since dwindling stocks prompted the federal government to close the once lucrative redfish fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but now a rebound in the population has industry players positioning themselves to get in on what they hope will be a windfall.

The centre of attention is a large section of the gulf known as Unit 1, stretching from the western coast of Newfoundland across to Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula and down toward the northern tip of Cape Breton.

A federal Fisheries Department moratorium on commercial fishing of redfish was imposed in the area in 1995 and has remained in place ever since. But from 2011 to 2013, research showed that three robust redfish cohorts had propelled growth in the overall stock.

One theory is that the fish are doing well in the warming waters of the gulf. Caroline Senay, a Fisheries Department biologist, says scientists aren’t sure what factor – or combination of factors – helped the redfish population spike the way it has.

“We don’t have a lot of information to try to really do some strong correlation or to really understand what was special in 2011,” she said in a recent interview. “We know that the gulf is warming quite quickly. It seems that redfish, contrary to other species, they’re doing pretty well in these new environmental conditions.”

So well, in fact, they’ve reached “historic highs,” said Kris Vascotto, executive director of the Atlantic Groundfish Council, which represents year-round offshore harvesters in Atlantic Canada.

“There’s probably more redfish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence now than we’ve ever seen in our recorded history,” he said during a recent interview.

The reopening of the redfish fishery is still thought to be a few years away, but the provinces surrounding the section of the Gulf, including Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia, are looking to get a bigger piece of the potentially lucrative fishery.