Fish tales: Mixed catches reported across N.L. on first day of food fishery

BY STEVE BARTLETT

Transcontinental Media

Plomp! Plomp!

This is the noise the large cod makes as Ken Pennell tosses it on top of an overturned fish box he has placed on a small white boat in Petty Harbour, N.L.

With the hood of his raingear up and water pouring from the low, grey cloud cover, he grasps a large knife and skillfully fillets the fish in seconds. It’s a talent he acquired and honed as a young fella, but one he only gets to use during the food fishery each year.

That fishery – officially called the ‘recreational groundfish fishery’, but known simply as the ‘food fishery’ – opened Wednesday, July 23.

Pennell was among numerous participants who went out on the water from around the province.

The Goulds resident and two of his buddies steamed about three kilometres off Petty Harbour at 5:30 a.m. and found success.

“It was a calm morning. The fish were taking it good. Everywhere you dropped your line, you were getting fish.”

The trio had no problem catching their daily quota of five each, or 15 per boat.

Pennell, who grew up in Trepassey and now works offshore, planned to have a feed with his share last Wednesday night and then freeze whatever was left over.

The son of a fisherman, he considers being able to fish for cod a treat. He noted he would probably try for five more the next day, weather permitting.

Pennell exuded, “Love it.”

On the other side of Petty Harbour, Harry Lee is also filleting with skill and precision – much to the delight of a group of Ontario residents who have just gotten off a tour bus. He said he caught his quota in minutes and noted there were a lot of boats offshore.

Recreational fishers in other areas were also enjoying good catches.

Bonavista Deputy Mayor Hedley Butler said the weather kept a lot of people onshore, but based on what he was hearing around town, those who went out had no problem getting their quota.

The commercial fisherman, who didn’t participate in the food fishery last Wednesday but expected to try his luck a few times before it closes, described the catches as “Average size fish.”

Not everyone was so fortunate as the crowd in Petty Harbour or Bonavista though.

Up in Englee, near the northern tip of the Northern Peninsula, Robert Keefe and his wife spent most of a foggy morning on the water off a point near the picturesque town.

They landed just three cod, and the fish weren’t overly large.

The food fishery runs until Aug. 12 and is open again from Sept. 27 to Oct. 5.

In recent years, it has been a highlight of the summer for many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians since the collapse of the commercial cod fishery in 1992.

(FROM THE ST. JOHN’S TELEGRAM)