In his first stint as Fisheries Minister, MHA Elvis Loveless allowed Royal Greenland to stroll in and become the province's largest fish processor, a foreign country/global competitor controlling inshore boats and quota. During his second stint, Loveless didn't seem to care either way whether the northern cod moratorium was lifted. Fair to say Loveless won't be missed on many wharves.
Loveless (left) and Premier Andrew Furey attended the Boston seafood show in March 2024. Loveless served as Fisheries minister from August 2020-April 2021, and from June 2023-July 2024. Last week he was appointed Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.
The Premier was forced to flip flop on northern cod.
On June 26th when DFO announced the moratorium would be lifted, Furey seemed to celebrate the news, but then on July 3rd, a week later, he wrote federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier to say that providing access to foreign fleets (which is what lifting the 32-year moratorium would do) was an "affront" to the patience of inshore harvesters.
Here's the premier's stand a week later:
Why wasn't Furey aware from the get-go of the consequences of lifting the moratorium?
In his July 3rd letter to the federal Minister, Furey wrote, "These decisions should not have been taken without consultation with stakeholders in Newfoundland and Labrador," and called for joint fisheries management.
Only stakeholders were consulted — including the provincial Fisheries department led by then Minister Loveless. On April 9th, the department wrote DFO to officially recommend a modest increase in the northern cod harvest, but did not provide a recommendation as to whether the fishery should be managed as a commercial fishery or a continued sentinel fishery.
As Minister the buck stopped with Loveless — meaning that was his mistake.
Loveless should have raised the roof over the idea of the moratorium being lifted, but he passed.
The stakeholders were well aware that if Ottawa lifted the moratorium and resumed a commercial fishery foreign fleets outside 200 miles would be entitled to 5% of the quota — because the consequences were discussed at DFO advisory meetings.
And the Canadian offshore sector was clear at those meetings that it wanted the moratorium lifted, so domestic offshore draggers could also gain access to the stock.
On April 30th, SEA-NL issued a news release after submitting its recommendation: SEA-NL advises Ottawa to increase northern cod harvest, but not to lift ’92 moratorium
The FFAW made the same recommendation.
Loveless's department did not.
Despite objections raised after the fact, DFO opened the northern cod fishery to Labrador-based harvesters this past Sunday, July 21st — meaning it's probably too late to stop now.
FUREY'S NEXT CHALLENGE IS FISHING INDUSTRY REVIEW
On April 1st, Loveless wrote the FFAW to say prior to Sept. 1st, the province will initiate a review of of all issues pertaining to the fishery — including harvesting, processing, capacity, competition, corporate control, and other relevant issues.
The appointments and terms of reference for that review have yet to be announced.
They should be sweeping and include public meetings with harvesters, which the Furey government's last two fishery reviews did not include.
In the meantime, Loveless is being replaced at Fisheries by Gerry Byrne, who also held the post from July 2017 to August 2020.
This past February Byrne called DFO "intellectually and morally bankrupt" for its decision to give NL a low share of redfish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
This province is desperate for an attack dog to protect the inshore fishery from the likes of Ottawa/DFO.
Let's hope the bark is finally matched with bite.
Ryan cleary is a former journalist, Member of Parliament, union leader, and long-time inshore fisheries advocate who’s currently helping to organize a co-operative (fpcnl.ca) for inshore enterprise owners. The opinions expressed in this blog are his own. Contact him at fpc-nl@outlook.com or call/text 709 682 4862.
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