Terms of Reference

Stock Assessment of Rock Crab in Quebec Inshore Waters

Regional Peer Review – Quebec Region

February 28, 2017
Mont-Joli, Québec

Chairperson: Charley Cyr

Context

In Quebec, commercial fishing of rock crab began in 1988, but the fishery did not really begin to take off until 1995, first in the southern part of the Gaspé Peninsula (12E-Z) and Magdalen Islands (12A-C), then along the north shore of the Gaspé Peninsula (12D and 17) and, since 2004, on the North Shore and Anticosti Island (16B–E).

The fishery is managed by limiting fishing effort. The number of licences and trap sizes are limited, as is the fishing season. Furthermore, catches are limited by individual catch limits in the Magdalen Islands, and by a quota per subarea or group of subareas in areas 17C, 12D and 12E to 12Z. A minimum legal carapace width has been set at 102 mm creating an exclusively male-directed fishery. Keeping a log-book is mandatory.

At the request of the Fisheries Management Branch, resource assessment is done every three years since 2007. The last rock crab stock review was done in 2013. The objective of the review is to determine whether changes that have occurred in the stock status necessitate adjustments to management plans based on the conservation approach used.

Objectives

Provide scientific advice on the stock status of rock crab in Quebec’s inshore waters (management units 12, 16 and 17) for the 2017-2019 fishing seasons. This advice shall include:

• Description of the species biology and its distribution in Quebec’s coastal waters;
• Description of the fishery including management measures specific to the fishing zones;
• Conclusions of an assessment of the status of rock crab populations based on following data for 2013 to 2016:
  • commercial fishery statistics;
  • effort and CPUE;
  • size structure.
• The identification and priorization of research projects to be considered for the future;
• The determination of the process to provide advice during the interim years, including a description of conditions that may warrant a full stock assessment earlier than originally planned;
• Perspectives for the 2017-2019 fishing seasons based on indicators derived from fishing and research activities in the Magdalen Islands, in the Gaspé Peninsula and on North Shore.

Expected Publications

• Science Advisory Report
• Proceedings

Participation

• DFO Science and Fisheries Management
• Fishing industry
• Provincial representatives
• Aboriginal communities/organizations