By Canadian Press

Small fish in big trouble in Canadian waters, WWF-Canada report finds

Aug 2, 2016 | 4:00 AM

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The federal Fisheries Department needs to start considering predators’ fate when it sets catch limits for small fish, a new report by WWF-Canada concludes. 

The conservation group analyzed data on 27 foraging species, and found three fisheries are in decline in Atlantic Canada.

That includes two herring stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Seabirds, whales and bluefin tuna face starvation without the teeming schools of foraging fish, which are also critical to the recovery of commercial fisheries such as northern cod, the group says.

It says in all cases, fisheries management does not sufficiently account for predator needs.

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Removing bathroom doors at Barriere Secondary increases safety concerns

Apr 02, 2026

Looped In

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: April 2, 2026

Apr 02, 2026

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Kamloops deserves the full story

Apr 01, 2026

“They need to shift the way they are doing their stock assessment and move towards a real ecosystem type stock assessment,” says Aurelie Cosandey-Godin, a WWF marine biologist who worked on the study.

She said there are now good computer models that can take into account predator needs, and it’s time for fisheries managers to start using them.

The biologist cites models being used in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization and in the United States that can be applicable to a pilot study in Canada.

The study released Tuesday gathers existing federal fisheries data indicating the problems for the foraging species are growing.

“Other fisheries of concern include the Atlantic herring in southwest Nova Scotia… Atlantic herring in Fortune Bay, N.L., and the Pacific herring in Haida Gwaii,” the report said. “For all these fisheries, an important factor in the decline was attributed to changes in the environment.”

The report also said the status of stocks was unknown in 75 per cent of the fisheries, including all capelin fisheries and all the fisheries in British Columbia.

A spokeswoman for the Fisheries Department said Tuesday the management of fisheries “is informed by the best available science advice.”

“Where data limitations exist, DFO takes these uncertainties into account when setting harvest levels to manage fisheries sustainably.”

The email from Sarah Gilbert says Fisheries is taking action on some issues raised in the WWF report, including the hiring of 135 new scientists, biologists, and technicians to conduct research and monitoring activities.

“Through the implementation of its Sustainable Fisheries Framework policies, DFO is taking concrete steps to implement an ecosystem approach to fisheries management,” says the email.

Heather Grant of the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax said the findings are not surprising, as her group published a similar report earlier this year. She said it’s a complex issue because forage fish are important prey but they are also used as bait.

“If you look at heavily limiting the amount of fishing that’s allowed, you’re looking at very serious impacts to fisheries like lobster or crab, which heavily rely on forage fish for their bait,” said Grant.

“There’s also a lot of uncertainty in the science and there’s so much we don’t know about what’s happening… So there’s a lot of reluctance to take a precautionary approach to managing the species because of those economic implications.”

Grant said more effort needs to be put into gathering information about forage fish stocks.

“We can’t manage them if we don’t know how well or how badly they’re doing and if we don’t know what factors are influencing their health,” she said. “I think that’s something that really needs to be made a priority because it’s hard to manage a species well when you have no idea what its status is.”

— By Michael Tutton in Halifax

The Canadian Press