FishSource

Canada Atlantic cod (2J3KL) - longline/trawl/gillnet/hook & line (FIP)

Last Updated:

Progress Rating: A

Evaluation Start Date: 2015-04-18

Type: Comprehensive

Status: Active

FIP Lead: Association of Seafood Producers (ASP), Atlantic Groundfish Council (AGC)

Stock Profile Link
Atlantic cod - Newfoundland

Comments:

FIP has reported stage 4 results within the last 12 months; FIP remains A rated

1. FIP Development	Feb 16	Fishery assessment or scoping document made public 9 February 2016 — WWF/ FFAW Canadian Cod Fishery in NAFO Divisions 2J3KL Pre-assessment 1 April 2015 — MSC pre-assessment (document not available) 15 July 2011 — First MSC pre-assessment published
2. FIP Launch	Apr 15	Confirmation of project participants 1 April 2015 — FIP participants identified 1 February 2015 — FIP participants involved
2. FIP Launch	Apr 18	Workplan made public 22 April 2018 — 2018 workplan 24 April 2016 — 2015-2018 workplan with actions, responsibilities and target completion dates published 18 April 2015 — 2015-2017 workplan with actions, responsibilities and target completion dates
3. FIP Implementation	Apr 22	FIP activities undertaken 14 April 2022 — FIP update provided at the April 2022 Barcelona Seafood Expo; to date, 775 cod have been acoustically tagged and 350 have been Floy tagged. 18 November 2021 — Acoustic tracking project update made available; A vessel deployed in May 2021 conducted spawning aggregation observations and tagged a series of cod, witch flounder and greenland halibut. 1 June 2020 — Report entitled 'Bycatch Evaluation - 2J3KL Northern Cod', prepared by AGC 9 September 2019 — The ASP-AGC Northern Cod FIP announced on September 10th, 2019, the official commencement of it's $8.5 Million Northern Cod Acoustic Tracking (NCAT) Project via press release. The project aims to answer critical questions associated with Phase 2 of its research plan. 1 June 2018 — Improving knowledge and information on bait species 1 February 2018 — DFO reiterated in the February meeting that the Department is adamant that the harvest control rules are in place to determine the management of the 2018 2J3KL cod stewardship fishery. 1 January 2018 — The Federal management body for commercial fisheries, adopted the management approach proposed by the NL-Groundfish Industry Development Council (NL-GIDC) to manage the 2018 2K3KL Cod Stewardship fishery. 1 October 2017 — DFO has established a Northern Cod Rebuilding Group whose goal is to establish the rebuilding objectives and HCRs to guide development of the rebuilding plan. 1 October 2017 — DFO is preparing a drafted Integrated FIseries Management Plann (IFMP) for or fisheries in 2J3KL will be available by March 2018 with finalization by March 2019 1 April 2017 — Stock status (2016) update at the Brussels meeting in April 2017 confirming positive trends 14 June 2016 — Research plan developed to inform further assessments of the cod complex 29 April 2015 — Cod FIP minutes - Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is working with Groundfish Enterprise Allocation Council (GEAC) in the working group
4. Improvements in Fishing Practices and Fishery Management	Jul 22	Verifiable improvement in policy/management and fishing practices 18 July 2022 — Increase to PI 1.2.2; DFO published and communication management decisions based on two monitoring programs showing efforts to manage effort which remains low 7 December 2021 — HDR (defined in the Rebuilding Strategy) was used to define the maximum authorized harvest for 2021 at 12,999t. 17 June 2021 — Increase in PI 2.1.3; quantitative information available from the commercial fisheries which land main primary species 17 June 2021 — Increase in PI 2.1.2; clear defined management measures in place for commercial fishing species as well as requirements for personal use bait harvesting 19 May 2021 — Increase to PI 1.2.3; improvements made with tagging practice 21 December 2020 — Increase to PI 1.2.2; HDR defined in December of 2020 21 December 2020 — Fisheries and Oceans Canada published the harvest strategy in the document "Rebuilding Plan fo Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) NAFO Divisions 2J3KL". 10 December 2019 — On 10 December 2019, DFO announced the new Fishery Monitoring Policy to set out the direction for fishery monitoring in Canada’s federally-managed wild capture fisheries and includes 2J3KL cod 26 April 2019 — In April 2019, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) published the update Groundfish Newfoundland and Labrador Region NAFO Subarea 2 + Divisions 3KLMNO Integrated Fisheries Management Plan. - This IFMP provides a common understanding of the basic “rules” for the sustainable management of the fisheries resource." 30 March 2018 — Information of fishery impacts on habitats is made available - DFO released a significant publication which provides additional analysis of the fishery overlap and significant benthic areas 1 December 2017 — In December 2017, DFO announced the formal authorisation of a number of conservation areas in Altantic and Eastern Arc with bottom fishery restrictions providing protection of corals and sponges in those areas 1 April 2017 — Evaluation of fishery impact on corals and sponges - delineates the Significant Benthic Areas, and overlays fishing activity data, providing Ecosystems and Fisheries Management with information to support the identification of Sensitive Benthic Areas. 1 May 2016 — Use of new stock assessment model in the recent assessment of Newfoundland cod 1 March 2016 — New stock assessment developed
5. Improvements on the Water	Jun 21	Verifiable improvement on the water 17 June 2021 — Increase in PI 2.1.1; bait use is well below the threshold for consideration as a primary species 1 May 2016 — Increase in biomass reported in latest stock assessment report
6. MSC certification (optional)	—	MSC certificate made public