Oceans advocacy group renews call to suspend capelin fishery

Oceana Canada is calling for a suspension of Newfoundland and Labrador's capelin fishery, saying the stock needs time to replenish. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press)

An oceans advocacy group is reissuing a call to pause Newfoundland and Labrador's capelin fishery, as one scientist says the stock needs time to replenish and help the growth of other stocks.

Oceana Canada has released a series of videos interviewing residents of the province, while capelin were rolling last summer, about the importance of the fish to the environment.

Marine scientist Jack Daly told CBC News the stock needs to be better managed. Stock assessments show there isn't as much capelin in the water as there used to be, he said.

He and the group recommend a short-term closure of the fishery to help rebuild the stock.

"We want to see a commercial fishery someday, when the population is healthy," Daly said.

"[Capelin decline] results in real impacts in everyday lives, whether that be from people attending capelin rolls, which get shorter and shorter each year, or whether that be from seabirds that are feeling the impact of continued capelin stagnation. Or just generally the lack of return of cod partly because of a lack of capelin."

A stock assessment from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans published in March showed capelin stocks in Zone 2J3KL — which encompasses a vast swath of the Newfoundland coast — have been lifted from the critical zone, but noted that doesn't mean there are more capelin in the water. The assessment projected the 2024 capelin biomass to be similar to or slightly lower than the 2023 biomass.

The assessment note challenges the stock is facing — like late spawning, capelin maturing at earlier ages and a population that is dominated by relatively young fish.

"Since most fish die after spawning, we are not seeing older fish in the population. This means lower overall reproductive potential for the stock, since older and larger fish produce more eggs," said a technical briefing on the assessment.

Daly argued the fishery plays a role in the lack of older fish in the population, because taking younger capelin from the water limits population growth.

He says suspending the capelin fishery would also help Atlantic cod stocks as the fish feed on capelin.

"Capelin was identified as one of the No. 1 reasons in this year's stock assessment as to why northern cod is not rebounding as expected," he said.

Ocean Canada marine scientist Jack Daly, seen in this file photo, says capelin affect other animals in the ecosystem, and allowing the stock to replenish would help other stocks. (Ted Dillon/CBC)

DFO also lowered the limit reference point — a point that marks the boundary between the cautionary and critical zones of a stock — for capelin from 640 kilotons to 155 kilotons.

While that amount of capelin can support Atlantic cod in the stock's current state, said Daly, it doesn't show the volume of capelin needed to support a rebuild of the stock.

"We don't see a significant increase in the capelin population," he said. "We want to stop … considering this as the best we can get."

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