(as originally published by The Hill Times June 16,2025 located here.)
With a decision from the fisheries minister expected any day now, the global and local realities of northern cod are aligning to create a well-timed economic opportunity
As governments across Canada work to lessen the impact of trade uncertainty with the US, every industry across the country must dig deep to maximize its own contribution to the economic stability Canadians need. While doing so, there is an expectation the Government of Canada will take every reasonable opportunity to allow industries to do their part.
An early litmus test of Prime Minister (PM) Carney’s economic agenda for coastal communities – and one his government’s earliest occasions to demonstrate whether they will capitalize on every opportunity to strengthen the economy – is the upcoming decision on the cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The collapse of Northern cod a generation ago was the impetus for global sustainability certification labels like the Marine Stewardship Council’s famous blue checkmark. The iconic fishery has been closely followed around the world ever since, and even more intently since government ended the moratorium and reopened the commercial fishery last June.
With a decision from the Minister of Fisheries expected any day now, the global and local realities of Northern cod are aligning to create a well-timed economic opportunity.
The minimum price for local harvesters is at a generational high, up 12% from last year and 48% since 2021.
This is because markets are hungrier than ever for Canadian cod. With decline in Barents Sea and Icelandic cod, worldwide supply is at the lowest point in over 30 years.
Northern cod is now the second largest cod stock in the world, and the only one of the top three that is growing. At the global seafood expo in Barcelona last month, the interest and excitement regarding Canadian cod was reverberating.
In a moment of poetic justice for the once failed fishery, the niche markets courting Canadian cod are primarily in the UK and France, two key jurisdictions on Canadians’ minds as the country looks to, as per the PM’s mandate letter, strengthen collaboration with reliable trading partners and allies around the world.
Canada’s most well-known cod processor – Icewater Seafoods in Arnold’s Cove, NL – has maintained relationships with customers throughout the moratorium. Last year, they processed 100% Canadian cod for the first time since 1992 and the vast majority of cod processed by their local workers is exported to premium customers in the UK and France.
These customers, such as international retailer Marks & Spencer, have rigid sustainability standards. The latest science assessment of Northern cod easily meets those standards, feeding global optimism that Canadian cod will fill crucial supply gaps.
For industry experts, the 2025 science provides further cause for optimism. Jim Cannon CEO and Founder of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership noted in Barcelona last month, “We now have scientific confirmation the Government of Canada made the right decision when they ended the moratorium and reopened the commercial fishery last year”.
The question now, is whether government will have the courage and vision to make the right decision again in 2025.
With a healthy and growing stock, record local prices, premium markets in ally countries looking to Canada to fulfill their year-round supply needs, the opportunity is palpable. As a one-year decision and setting a harvest level that is more conservative than DFO’s own precautionary approach calls for, the Minister could almost triple last year’s catch level while maintaining sustainable harvesting levels, to allow Newfoundland and Labrador to seize the market opportunity knocking on its door. This one decision could inject hundreds of millions more dollars to the rural economy in one year. Beyond 2025, gaining market share through its local inshore and offshore fisheries as global supply shrinks is a tremendous, longer term economic opportunity for workers, businesses, communities in Canada’s youngest province.
The opportunity is ripe for the Government of Canada to ‘elbows up’ and reassure Canadians that no stone will be left unturned on its commitment to optimize every single reasonable opportunity to ensure economic stability through uncertain times.
Sylvie Lapointe
Sylvie Lapointe, is the President of the Atlantic Groundfish Council. Previously, she spent 26 years working for the Government of Canada, including two decades at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. She managed fisheries across Canada, chaired high profile Advisory Committees in the Atlantic and held many positions within DFO, including Assistant Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Harbour Management.