Notice to Fish Harvesters

Transcription

1 April 5, SOUTHERN GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE SNOW CRAB CONSERVATION HARVESTING PLAN CRAB FISHING AREA 12 (12, 18, 25, 26) Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) releases the details of the 2018 Crab Fishing Area (CFA) 12 (12, 18, 25, 26) Conservation Harvesting Plan. Quota The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) in CFA 12 is 20, t. Details of the sharing of the TAC can be found in the CFA 12 snow crab administrative list. Quota reconciliation Quota reconciliation is applied in this fishery. Quota overruns during the 2018 season by a licence holder will be deducted in 2019 on a one-for-one basis. It is the responsibility of the licence holder to respect the allocation granted while taking into consideration transfers and landings and has to make the necessary arrangements before departing for a fishing expedition to have quota to cover expected catches for the expedition. Temporary transfers Licence holders who are subject to the owner-operator policy may transfer up to 50% of his or her initial quota on a temporary basis, within one fishing season. At-Sea observer coverage At-sea observer coverage representing 20% of fishing trips will be required for Temporary flexibilities options The creation of partnerships and trios, as well as the waiver of the 30-day minimum policy for transfer of vessels, will be permitted for the 2018 fishing season. The trap limit for partnerships and trios will be equal to the total traps of one licence, plus 50%. Temporary flexibility options will no longer be permitted effective in /2

2 Management measures (rolled over from 2017) Management measures in 2018 rolled over from 2017 include, amongst others: The soft-shell crab protocol. Only one valid annual tag per trap. Tags from previous years must be removed. The color for original tags must be light brown, while the color for replacement tags must be pale blue. 100% dockside monitoring. Landings weighed in kilograms on an electronic scale with a memory. Maximum mesh size of 75 mm. Authorized release of commercial-sized male crab with small claws back in the water. A delayed season opening to June 1 applies to an area in CFA 12 for one nautical mile bordering on CFA 19. The buffer zone between CFAs 18 and 19 remains in effect. The Irving Whale Exclusion Zone is maintained. The industry-led Opening Date Committee of the fishery is assessing conditions and will recommend a targeted opening date. Opening the fishery is subject to weather conditions and to DFO operational requirements. The opening date will be confirmed in a separate Notice to Fish Harvesters and by the issuance of a variation order. New management measures for 2018: The following new management measures will be in effect starting in 2018 for monitoring purposes and to further minimize the risks of interactions with the North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW): The use of a vessel monitoring system (VMS) with five (5) minutes reporting intervals. Harvesters are asked to register their VMS with DFO as soon as possible. The fishery will close on June 30, 2018 at 24:00 hrs (ADT). All gear must be removed from the water by the end of the day June 30, New gear requirements: - Minimal rope floating on the surface of the water. - Requirement to mark rope with orange colored markings. - Additional identification of buoys. - Requirement to report lost gear. Licence holders must report lost gear by GLF.DFO.Gear-Engins.GLF.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca (for licence holders from the Gulf Region), or MPO.QUE-Engins-perdus-Lost-Gear-QUE.DFO@dfo-mpo.gc (for licence holders from the Quebec Region). Specific information that must be reported is identified in the licence conditions. * Details on the new requirements can be found in the Notice to Fish Harvesters dated January 23, 2018, as well as in the licence conditions. /3

3 3 Requirement to report interactions with marine mammals: - In order to comply with the implementation of the US Marine Mammals Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, licence holders must now provide information regarding all interactions with a marine mammal including: bycatch, collisions and all sightings of entangled marine mammals that occur during fishing expeditions. - A Marine Mammal Interaction Form (included with licence conditions) must be completed and submitted by to DFO.NAT.InteractionsMM- InteractionsMM.NAT.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca within 48 hours after the end of a fishing trip. - The information provided on the form will be used by DFO to estimate levels of accidental mortality and injury to marine mammals. This information will allow DFO to better assess the types of threats that may affect Canada's marine mammals and to develop mitigation strategies. Requirement to report sightings of live whales: - Sightings of live, free-swimming North Atlantic Right Whales must be reported to DFO by telephone: , or by XMARwhalesightings@dfompo.gc.ca. Trap limits in 2018: - Licence holders holding less than 0.22% of the CFA 12 TAC will be permitted 75 traps *. For 2018, this limit applies to licence holders who are part of the following fleets: Prince Edward Island Inshore Traditional Fleet Area 18 Inshore Traditional Fleet New access licence holders with individual quotas - Licence holders holding 0.44% or more of the CFA 12 TAC will be permitted 150 traps *. For 2018, this represents licence holders that are part of the traditional midshore fleet. * Note: Additional traps may be permitted in accordance with the individual transferable quota program administrative guidelines. - New access groups who further distribute their quotas or designate operators will be authorized one trap per 0.54 tonne (or 1 trap per 1,200 pounds). Traps may be distributed to each licence holder/operator the way that is most favorable to them; however, a maximum of 150 traps per licence holder/operator must be respected. /4

4 4 - First Nations have the ability to designate operators under the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations. Operators designated by First Nations will be authorized one trap per 0.54 tonne (or 1 trap per 1,200 pounds). Traps may be distributed to each licence holder/operator the way that is most favorable to them; however, a maximum of 150 traps per licence holder/operator must be respected. Protocol for the dynamic management of the fisheries (new measure for 2018) DFO will implement a protocol for the dynamic management of the fisheries in 2018 which will close areas to fishing activities when the presence of NARW is observed. This protocol will allow DFO to close specific areas to fishing activities to prevent incidents with NARW, such as entanglements. DFO will use the existing soft shell/white crab grids to close areas due to the presence of NARW. Observations inside a foraging area When at least one NARW is observed inside a foraging area (see map on the following page), a total of nine grids will be closed to provide a buffer area around the sighting location to account for whale movements. Closing and reopening of the areas Closures will be in force for a minimum period of 15 days and will be extended by 15 days from the last NARW sighting. If NARWs are not seen during at least two aerial surveillance flights during the 15 days period, the dynamic closure for the relevant sections will be automatically lifted at the end of the period. Closures will be regulated through variation orders and licence holders will be provided an advance notice of 48 hours to retrieve fishing gear from the area prior to closure. /5

5 5 Map demonstrating grids used for the snow crab soft shell protocol, as well as foraging areas. Static closure (new measure for 2018) DFO will implement a static closure in an area where 90% of the NARW observations occurred in 2017 to provide a large gear-free area for the NARWs, thus reducing the risk of gear interaction. The closure will be in effect on April 28, 2018 or sooner if NARW are present. The coordinates for the static closure are as follow: Points Latitude Longitude Position (north-west corner) ' 00 ' ' ' 00 ' ' Position (north-east corner) ' 00 ' ' ' 00 ' ' Position (south-east corner) ' 00 ' ' ' 00 ' ' Position (south-west corner) ' 00 ' ' ' 00 ' ' The point references are based on the geodesic system North American Datum 1983 (NAD83). Positions are expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds. /6

6 6 Map showing the static closure that will be in effect on April 28, FOR INFORMATION: Sylvie Léger Resource Management Fisheries and Oceans Canada Moncton, NB Maité Chavez Resource Management Fisheries and Oceans Canada Quebec, QC