Leading researcher in Newfoundland calls for closure of the capelin fishery
HALIFAX — They are tiny fish that feed the mightiest of mammals — and they’re in trouble.
Capelin travel in large schools off Canada’s east coast and are the preferred food of many species of whales, but these silver, smelt-like fish experienced a population crash in the early 1990s from which they have yet to recover.
A leading biologist in Newfoundland and Labrador says the recovery of capelin is so important that the province’s commercial fishery for capelin roe — known as masago among sushi fans — should be stopped.
“It essentially feeds all of the large vertebrate predators in the Northwest Atlantic,” said Bill Montevecchi, a well-known research professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s.