Newfoundland and Labrador's fisheries minister says he was disturbed to learn federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier ignored the advice of staff in reopening the commercial cod fishery.

Gerry Byrne said Tuesday the decision to reopen the fishery, announced in June, wasn't based on industry science.

"The view that we saw was very, very disturbing. It is about politics," Byrne said Tuesday. "We thought we were at a place where politics would be removed from this decision-making process, because it was politics that brought us here to begin with."

Byrne said it shows Ottawa's lack of understanding of the industry and the province.

Read more