DFO defends cut to herring quota that company claims forced N.B. layoffs

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is defending its July decision to reduce the herring quota in the Bay of Fundy, after a major New Brunswick employer blamed the decision for major layoffs.

"We recognize the economic impacts this decision will have on the families and communities that rely on income from fishing and processing herring," said Lauren Sankey, DFO spokesperson, in an emailed statement late Friday afternoon.

"But such a decision is necessary to ensure recovery and protect the resource for future generations," Sankey said.

Connors Bros., a herring processing company in Blacks Harbour, near St. George, announced this week it's laying off 20 per cent of its workforce, which is estimated to be about 100 people.

"The staff reduction is a result of the Canadian Government's Department of Fishery and Ocean's (DFO's) July 2024 decision to cut the total allowable herring catch for the Bay of Fundy by 24%," a release from the company said Thursday.

The release went on to ask the government to "reconsider its science" and re-evaluate the quota reduction.

Andrea Anderson-Mason, MLA for Fundy-The-Isles-Saint John West, also blamed the reduction for the layoffs at Connors Bros.

"It's incredibly difficult. We have seen the writing on the wall, we have seen the signals," she said.

But the federal agency is not reconsidering.

Sankey said Atlantic herring stock in the Bay of Fundy is in the critical zone for the sixth year in a row.

"DFO Science advice indicates that [quota] reductions are needed to rebuild the stock out of the critical zone," she said.

Federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dianne Lebouthillier set the herring quota for the Bay of Fundy at 16,000 tonnes for the 2024 through 2027 seasons.

To date, the quota has been cut by more than half, from 50,000 tonnes in 2016 and 42,500 tonnes in both 2017 and 2018. 

Stock assessments are based on indicators such as at-sea surveys conducted by the industry that are then independently analyzed by DFO scientists, Sankey said.

Additionally, the herring fishery is conducted in parts of the bay where herring gather in larger groups, "which can give the perception that the stock is more abundant than it actually is," she said.

"As a forage species, Atlantic herring is an important food source for larger fish and whales. Herring also supports an important commercial fishery in Atlantic Canada, and is used as bait in other fisheries, such as lobster and snow crab."

Following the Connors Bros. layoffs, the Fundy North Fishermen's Association warned of challenges for the region's lobster fishery this fall, because herring is used as bait for lobster traps.

The association shared a letter from Connors Bros. with CBC News that said the company could no longer provide herring bait to the lobster industry, following the July DFO reduction, because of the reduced herring available.

"Decisions will continue to be informed by the best available science regarding the stock of Atlantic herring in southwest Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy," Sankey said.