Create a lobster food fishery
Petitioners ask the Minister to create a conservation-focused lobster food fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador for residents' personal use. The government responds it will not consider recreational lobster fishing and will maintain limited-entry commercial management.
Why we would sign this petition
- It would allow residents to access a traditional local food resource for personal consumption.
- Petitioners say the change could help address local food insecurity and rising food costs by enabling household lobster harvests.
- The petition frames the fishery as conservation-focused and cites DFO assessments reporting healthy lobster areas, suggesting safeguards could limit impacts.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Creating new access could conflict with the existing limited-entry commercial fishery and risk commercial livelihoods that depend on lobster.
- Atlantic Fishery Regulations currently do not provide for recreational lobster fishing, and the government has stated it will not consider such a fishery.
- The change could complicate past trap reductions and licence retirements made to support long-term sustainability, creating trade-offs between access and stock management.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans WHEREAS: For centuries lobster has been a traditional food resource in Newfoundland and Labrador and is directly tied to local identity. A lobster food fishery refers to lobstering done for personal consumption rather than for sale or profit. Rising food insecurity in Canada has put severe strain and hardship on Canadian families. Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index clearly shows food inflation is on the rise in Canada including Newfoundland and Labrador. Fisheries and Oceans Canada research document "Assessment of the American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Stock Status in Newfoundland (LFAS 3-14C) in 2021/2022" provides quantifiable evidence that areas of Newfoundland and Labrador have healthy lobster stock. The Government of Canada must ensure residents have equal access to food that is available in our territorial waters. We, the undersigned, residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, call upon the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to establish a conservation focused lobster food fishery so that a traditional food resource can be utilized for food consumption.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Fisheries Signed by The Honourable Joanne Thompson Fisheries and Oceans Canada recognizes the importance of the lobster fishery to commercial harvesters and coastal communities in Newfoundland and Labrador and across Atlantic Canada. The commercial lobster fishery generates more that $1.9 billion in landed value for Canadian harvests, contributing significantly to Canada’s economy. It is a fishery that shapes entire communities and drives coastal economies. Jobs and livelihoods depend on it. Lobster fisheries in Newfoundland and Labrador are managed under the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, which do not provide for recreational lobster fishing. Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s priority is to manage this resource sustainably, while supporting a strong and viable commercial fishery. The commercial lobster fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador is managed as a limited-entry, effort-controlled fishery. The fishery takes place in Lobster fishing areas 3-14C. There are currently 2,172 active commercial and communal commercial licences in the province. Governments and industry have made significant efforts to improve the sustainability of the lobster fishery through the implementation of the Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Measures program. Through voluntary trap reductions and licence retirements in Lobster Fishing Areas 11 to 14B, the program permanently removed 104,000 lobster traps and retired 262 lobster enterprises in Newfoundland and Labrador. Any requests for new access must respect the significant past efforts to reduce the number of traps and licences, in support of the long-term sustainability of the fishery. A recreational lobster fishery will not be considered. The department will continue working with harvesters, industry, and Indigenous partners through established consultation and advisory processes to make responsible decisions about the management of Canada’s lobster fisheries, including in Newfoundland and Labrador.