Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced dates for the 2018 recreational food fishery earlier this week. The summer dates begin June 30 and run weekends, with the last day of the summer season falling on Sept. 3. This year’s food fishery encompasses 39 days, which is seven days shorter than in 2017.
Question: Do you plan on participating in the 2018 food fishery and how do you feel about having seven fewer days to enjoy it this year?
Fred Meaney
Corner Brook
I’m not going at it. I haven’t gone out for a few fish in two years. It’s hard to get away. I don’t think it’s right to have less time to go fishing. That’s not good for the people who want to fish. They should have kept it the way it was. You need more days because weather can be a factor. I heard that the stocks aren’t rebounding, so I don’t know if this has anything to do with it or not.
Christopher Crane
Cox’s Cove
I’m going out, yes. I don’t like it that there are seven days less this year. What happens if the weather gets bad and I can’t get out? They should have kept it the way it was before.
Bruce McKay
Corner Brook
I’m not going out. I don’t bother with it. It’s cheaper to buy a bit of fish. You go out there and you may not be guaranteed to get your fish and there’s a lot of wind up, too. It’s ridiculous. It should be more days. Where the storms and hurricanes are coming in, you need more time to fish. It just don’t make sense.
Donna Baker
Corner Brook
No, I’m not going out because I don’t fish. I don’t think it’s fair to have less days because it affects people’s livelihood and recreation. They should be allowed to have more time to get their fish because the weather could be bad.
Gary Maxwell
Corner Brook
I’d like to get out there, but I got no way to get out there. I think they should keep the quota and length of the fishery the same as it was last year. Give the people a chance to get a few fish and then later on have a bit of fish in the fall they can salt for the winter. The weather also plays a factor because you might get a lot of bad days in between and that will cut it back further.
Gerald Murrin
Hughes Brook
It’s a possibility that I will go out. It’s not a regular thing, but when it’s on the go to get a chance to get a fish, I like to go out and jig my own fresh fish. I don’t think it’s right. I think it should be more days to go out, really, because I don’t think the ordinary person going out for a few fish is going to hurt anything. It’s the big boats and the seiners that is the problem. You only got a certain amount of days to fish and that day you want to go out and there’s a storm on you’re going to lose that day or go out in a storm, and that could be dangerous.
