We, inshore fish harvesters’ members of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union (MFU), the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA), the Regroupement des pêcheurs professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie (RPPSG) and the Gulf Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board (GNSFPB), call upon the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to: 

Control the striped bass population of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence to preserve the integrity of the ecosystem.

As the striped bass population has grown from 5,000 spawners (spawning stock biomass) to several hundred thousand, science, evidence, and observations are now showing that there is an imbalance in the ecosystem. In addition to the research over the past 15 years demonstrating a clear detrimental effect on Atlantic salmon in the Miramichi river, in the marine environment our members have observed increasing predation from striped bass on our commercial species over the past 10 years as well as disabling interactions with our fishing gear. Striped bass are frequently observed in lobster traps, herring nets and are very problematic in our coastal commercial fisheries such as gaspereau, smelt, silverside and eels. They are even seen offshore, in the Atlantic halibut longline fishery at depths up to 25 fathoms. 

We are concerned and more and more frustrated about the lack of management action by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to reduce the striped bass population and strive toward re-balancing the ecosystem for the benefit of all species including striped bass.   

Without immediate and effective management, the striped bass’ harmful impact on the ecosystem’s balance will get worse, and the impact on our commercial species will have a catastrophic effect on their populations and the economy of our communities.

The threat is real! The striped bass is an opportunistic generalist predator, meaning it feeds on anything in its path. 

Commercial fisheries, including the lobster fishery with a landed value of more than $2 billion and employing thousands of Canadians, are threatened.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), the Miramichi Watershed Management Committee, the New Brunswick Salmon Council, the Miramichi Salmon Association (MSA)-Conservation and the NB Wildlife Federation as well as the First Nations members of the North Shore Mi’kmaq Tribal Council and the Anqotum Rseource Management share the same concerns as us regarding the urgent need to control the striped bass population in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

We need your support, by signing this petition, to urge with one common voice that DFO act now to reduce and manage the population of striped bass in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.