I think there were two fundamental questions there.
One is, what's the comparison between what we do in groundfish cod specifically in Newfoundland and elsewhere, and the other is what we think about a recreational licence regime.
It is different in different regions and in different areas. It is largely dependent on the state of the stock and the number of people who we believe are fishing, and the impact that's going to have on the fishery.
In the maritimes region, which is what we used to call Scotia Fundy, but it's basically coastal Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick, the season is much longer. The limit in terms of cod is 10 per day, or 5 per day depending on which particular area it's at. There are certain fish that you cannot retain so it is different, and it's different again in the gulf region. And there's not a licence required for any of the regions in Atlantic Canada or Quebec for cod. So the specific management regime is different, depending on the circumstances, the number of people fishing, and our concern is conservation.
I will speak particularly to the Newfoundland cod fishery, which is enormously important to the people. We do absolutely understand that and our objective is to ensure that there is an opportunity, but also that we get sustained growth in that fishery and in that fish coming back. Members will know that northern cod has been at a very low level, but we are seeing signs of recovery. We were at 2% about a decade ago, 2% of what we call the limit reference point. The limit reference point is the average of the eighties. So we are at 2% in northern cod of the average of the eighties. The last advice we got, the last formal advice, is that we're at about 18%. So we're not back to where we were, but we're nine times higher than where we were.
The challenge is, we have a stewardship fishery for the commercial fishers, and we have a recreational fishery. The challenge in Newfoundland and Labrador is people absolutely love to do it, and if you open it for a day they're going to catch a lot of fish, and hence we need to find some way to manage it so that 32 days is the limit. There are other limits and I spoke to them.
In terms of a licence, members will know—and certainly the member who asked the question will know—there used to be one, and we have from time to time established a recreational licence in Newfoundland and Labrador. We have licence regimes in some areas and not in others. We'll be interested to see the advice from this committee about what makes sense. It's not particularly popular with some of the recreational fishers to have a licence regime in place, and so we put them in place where we think there is real value, that it's going to help us understand what is caught, who is catching it, etc.
Anyway, I'll stop there, but it is an interesting question. I'd be prepared to answer it again, but I know I've talked for a while.