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NLIS 4
December 11, 2000
(Fisheries and Aquaculture)


The following statement was issued today by Gerry Reid, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture . It was also read in the House of Assembly:

I rise today to provide my honourable colleagues with an overview of our fishing industry�s performance to date this year. I am pleased to report that the production value from our fishery in 2000 shows another record-breaking year for the Newfoundland and Labrador fishing industry.

As our fishery draws to a close for the year, preliminary data to the end of September 2000 demonstrates continued growth in overall landings, landed value and production value. I am very pleased to inform my honourable colleagues that the value of Newfoundland and Labrador seafood production will exceed $1 billion for the second consecutive year. These milestones are truly remarkable.

This year, the fishing industry employed 22,000 people directly and an additional 6,000 in support and service industries, a total of 28,000 individuals. The fishery is, by far, the largest single industry employer in the province. Employment in the fishing industry, as in many other primary resource industries, has a seasonal element. Average monthly employment in fish harvesting increased this year by six per cent or 9,200, up from 8,700 in 1999. An average of 6,600 individuals were employed monthly in fish processing. This number is down slightly from last year but remains above 1998 levels and resulted primarily from a reduction in the 2000 snow crab quota from 61,500 tonnes in 1999 to 51,500 tonnes in 2000, exclusive of exploratory quotas of approximately 6,000 tonnes in 1999 and approximately 3,000 tonnes in 2000.

Despite a reduction in crab and cod quotas in 2000 we have experienced another record year in landed value. Data for the first nine months of this year indicates landings of 225,000 tonnes and a landed value of approximately $500 million, compared with landings of 210,000 tonnes and a landed value of $420 million for the same period in 1999. Snow crab represents 51 per cent of the total landed value for the nine-month period, with a total landed value of $255 million. It is expected that the industry�s 2000 landed value will exceed last year�s level of $511 million.

Groundfish and shellfish landings increased 27 and six per cent respectively over the nine-month period this year. Turbot landings increased to 13,000 tonnes in 2000, up from 6,000 tonnes in 1999. Landings of yellowtail flounder are also significantly higher in 2000.

Inshore shrimp landings to the end of September 2000 showed an increase of 46 per cent above the same period last year and the inshore quota of 49,000 tonnes has now been fully harvested. This year also saw the opening of an inshore shrimp fishery in area 3L, of which the 2,500 tonne inshore quota was caught by mid-summer. The inshore shrimp harvesting and processing sector have now clearly demonstrated they have the capacity to harvest the quotas available.

Government is obviously very concerned over the slow recovery of key groundfish stocks and will continue to press for increased scientific capacity to better understand the reasons underlying this slow recovery. Over the next several months the federal government will be consulting with the province and industry on management plans for various fish stocks for 2001. Once these plans have been finalized, we will obviously be in a better position to comment on the outlook for the fishery in 2001 and over the foreseeable future.

2000 12 11 1:50 p.m.


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