Newfoundland and Labrador premier takes aim at Ottawa over reopened cod fishery

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey responds to reporters questions at a news conference at the end of a meeting of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers Monday, September 25, 2023 in Quebec City. The NunatuKavut Community Council says the Newfoundland and Labrador government will deliver a long-awaited apology to former residential school survivors this week. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot)

Newfoundland and Labrador's Liberal premier is once again opposing a decision made by the federal Liberals — this time about the reopening of the province's commercial northern cod fishery.

In a letter Wednesday to federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier, Premier Andrew Furey says granting foreign vessels a portion of the newly revived commercial fishery is "an affront" to Newfoundland and Labrador's fishers and processors.

Furey's note to Lebouthillier says it's time for Newfoundland and Labrador to "have a direct say" over its resources.

The premier says Ottawa's decision should not have been made without consulting people in his province, and he says he raised his objections with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Lebouthillier announced last week that she was lifting a 32-year-old moratorium on the commercial northern cod fishery, calling the decision "a historic milestone for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians."

Her department said Canadian vessels would be allowed to catch 18,000 tonnes in the 2024 season, which represents 95 per cent of the total allowable catch. The rest — roughly 950 tonnes — will go to foreign vessels.

Furey is the only Liberal provincial premier in the country, and he has previously taken aim at the federal Liberals over carbon pricing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2024.