Recreational cod fishing
So far for 2017 I haven’t written about the recreation cod fishery. I’m not saying food fishery because I just don’t like the term, but no offence to those who use it. However I’ll try to convince you to come onside for recreation.
My outfit for catching cod is meagre and frugal compared with much of what I see on the water these days. I have a 17-ft Princecraft aluminum boat and a 25-hp Yamaha outboard engine. I paid $3,600 for my boat in the early ’90s along with $2,400 for a one-tonne galvanized trailer. Both cost a lot more today. Five years ago I paid $4,200 for the engine. So that’s $10,200 for an outfit reasonably capable and safe for saltwater use. You can’t get on the ocean for much less than that. I could buy my cod from local commercial fishers for $3 per pound. Let’s do the math. I need about 50-lbs, so that’s $150 per year. Bloody hell, I could buy my cod for 68 years just for the price of my boat, engine and trailer. And that’s not including fuel, or any of the other associated gear that goes along with fishing for cod. You need rods, lines, lifejackets, bilge pump, and so on. Navigation and sonar equipment can really pile up your expense tally. So there you go, this is not a subsistence sort of activity, and that’s why I don’t like calling it a food fishery. We venture on the water to catch cod for recreation, no different than kayaking rivers, or climbing high hills.
I think food fishery portrays an inaccurate picture to those who do not live in Newfoundland and Labrador. I’m sure you know my meaning, the cliché poor province of Canada, folks living in lesser circumstances, and lower than Upper Canada standards. This false notion is not near as prevalent as it was in past decades, but I don’t think we need to use labels that perpetuate that image of ourselves, so let’s say recreational fishing, just like walleye fishing on a lake in Ontario’s cottage country. It really is no different. Anglers eat walleye. It’s delicious and it isn’t called a food fishery.
The main three-week block of continuous recreational cod fishing is over and now we can
only fish on weekends up to and including Labour Day. Goldie and I had a late start this season, not getting onto the water until the last three days of the main three weeks. But no great loss, because the fishing had been poor, at least that was the case here and around Spaniard’s Bay. Other parts of Newfoundland could have been very different. No surprise, we have a very big province with endless coves and bays. But we did do quite well in those last three days, as fishing significantly
picked up. Then we had to quit until the following weekend. How could you pick out three weeks of cod fishing that would work well for all involved? There is absolutely no possible way. To begin with, there’s the environmental variation from bay to bay and region to region. Cod chase food sources like caplin, squid, shrimp, crab, and whatever else they can eat. The predator and prey cycles varies from place to place and year to year. It is extremely complex.
If the fish are chasing caplin then you might catch them on hook and line. Then they gorge themselves on baitfish and become what we refer to as glutted. Typically it takes time and maybe a wind-driven sea to get the fish back eating again. It is very difficult to catch cod on hook and line when they are glutted. But commercial fishers can catch them in gill nets. This is what went on during much of the three-week block around our neck of the woods this season. The fish only began feeding during the late days. It’s possible that cod fishing could be poor for extended periods throughout the summer. And besides that, it’s summer, all too short in Newfoundland and Labrador, and we have other stuff to do. Like many others I’m sure, it’s tough for me to schedule nothing else during our allotted three weeks for cod fishing. And with a limit of five per person it takes a number of days if one wishes to catch enough fish. This year I arrived back home late from salmon fishing, wiping out the first week. Last year I lost the second half due to a trip out of country. We like to go camping with our grandkids, and tent our fair land. There’s a lot to do here in a short summer. I think we need to change the cod fishing rules to better accommodate people’s activity schedules.
We should have our recreational cod fishery open all summer and issue single use tags to control the number of fish taken. That way we can go out when the fishing is good and the weather is fair, along with when we aren’t somewhere else doing other summer recreation stuff. I do not think that it is too much of us to ask of our DFO managers. I also believe that a more accessible and accommodating cod season would generate economic activity along the lines of boat and gear sales. It could be all good for all involved. Cod fishing is still open on weekends and there will be a oneweek fishery in late September. I like autumn for salting and drying cod. But fall can be a windy time. Wear lifejackets, watch the weather, and play safely.