Fishing for redfish: “Yes, it’s crazy!”

While the start of commercial redfish fishing could begin in the coming weeks, a first Quebec boat designed specifically for this species is preparing to set sail.

This is a risky bet for the owner, who is banking on the development of this commercial fishery, which is still in its infancy.

I confirm, it’s crazy! Crazy because I invested in this without having my own quotas, but I simply believed in itlance Marco Turbide.

The San Marco VII was launched on Tuesday near the Sandy Beach wharf in Gaspé. Its name is inspired by the basilica and St. Mark’s Square in Italy.

Marco Turbide plans to take to the sea between now and the fall to fish for redfish or redfish, as many call it, because of its English name: red fish.

My first beginnings in fishing, I think it was with goldfish with my father and what I saw in the Islands. Then, it was after the biomass surveys in 2011, the biomass was doing well and I started to think about it and dream about it a little more.explains Marco Turbide, who has been fishing for 35 years.

Redfish fishing had been under a moratorium since 1995, but the return of commercial fishing was announced this year.

The president and CEO of Forillon Shipyard says that many are watching how Marco Turbide’s adventure will unfold before embarking on this new fishery themselves.

It’s quite embryonic. Mr. Turbide has a vision for this, but I think everyone is waiting to see how things will go, how he will fish and how the industry will develop. He decided to be forward, to be the leaderexplains Jean-David Samuel.

Le Madelinot invested nearly 8 million dollars to build its new boat, which can also fish for crab. The boat, built by the Forillon shipyard, has all the latest electronic and energy management features.

It has a little more innovation in terms of the shape of the hull and the recessed stabilizers. We are really talking about conservation of fish which will be A1, therefore liquid ice which will also be on board.

We’ve gone all out. We really have all the systems on board.adds Jean-David Samuel.

This year, Marco Turbide will fish part of the Madelipêche company’s quota in the Magdalen Islands. He does not yet know to whom he will sell his fish this year. In Quebec, only a few factories process redfish at the moment, and in small quantities, since the market is not very developed. The fisherman plans to land in another province in the hope that the local market will develop.

The Quebec market is not sufficient. It is impossible, impossible. Newfoundland is a market geared towards Asia and these are the same markets that we covet or that we must covet.

I have a good idea that Quebec will develop in this product in a few years, but we have to start. You have to start at the beginning. If we don’t go, we won’t knowadds Marco Turbide.