MARYSTOWN, N.L. — Ross Durnford of Fortune has seven deep freezers powered up to keep 1,000 pounds of bait frozen until next cod fishing season, after the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) shut down the cod fishery in his fishing zone.
Durnford had 10 tubs of cod fishing gear baited up and ready to drop in the water, but the early closure of the fishery in zone 3Ps — on the south coast of Newfoundland — forced him to cancel his plans.
Durnford and other inshore fishers who catch cod in the area learned of an early shutdown to the fishery on Jan. 11. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) gave them just one day, until 6 p.m. on Jan. 12, to have their cod fishing gear out of the water.
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