Herring – Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Fall Fishery)

Species and Area

The fall inshore Herring fishery in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Herring Fishing Areas 16A to 16G, and 17)

Dates of season (subject to change)

Specific fleet season dates are outlined in Table 1.

Total Allowable Catches and Sharing Arrangements (if applicable)

The TAC for the 2009 fall herring fishery is set at 65,000 tonnes.
The sharing of the quota remains unchanged for 2009: 76.83% for the inshore fleet and 23.17% for large seiners.

FLEET	FALL QUOTA
Inshore fleet Areas 16A-G	49,440
Inshore fleet in Area 17	650
Gulf large seiners	14,910
TOTAL	65,000

Management Measures

Fall inshore gillnet fishery

• A Dockside Monitoring Program (DMP) and weekend closures are a requirement in most fishing areas.
• Gillnets are restricted to a maximum of 150 fathoms in length, 125 meshes deep (100 meshes deep in 16G Southside), with a minimum mesh size of 66.7 mm (63.5 mm in 16A).
• Other management measures are outlined in Table 1.

Large seiners fishery

• A cap on fall spawners of 7,455 t (50 % of the large seiners 4TVn fall spawners quota of 14,910 t) in the Baie des Chaleurs is maintained.
• The purse seine fishery will be allowed in the Baie des Chaleurs from July 1 until July 31, 2009, and from September 1 until December 31, 2009, except west of a line between Grande-Anse (NB) and Paspébiac (QC) in order to limit catches of spring spawners.
• The large seiner herring fishery will be closed from January 1 to December 31 in a portion of HFA 16G off the northeast coast of PEI.
• The use of a mid-water trawl for three seiners to fish herring and mackerel in HFA 16 (excluding Baie des Chaleurs) from April 1 to December 31 is authorized with the appropriate monitoring and control mechanisms to prevent high catches of small fish.
• Uncaught quota from the spring will be transferred to the fall, and access to the northern portion of 4Vn (HFA 17) will be authorized starting November 1.  However, the amount and the conditions under which the fishery will take place in 4Vn (HFA 17) will be addressed in the Maritimes Region Herring Management Plan.
• All vessels must be equipped with an operational Vessel Monitoring System during fishing activities.
• There will be a minimum of 20% at-sea observer coverage during fishing activities. 
• A small fish protocol will be in place to protect the capture of juvenile herring during the fall purse seine fishery.

Links to other information

• Herring Fishery Information Website (Gulf region)

TABLE 1: FALL INSHORE MANAGEMENT MEASURES BY HFA – 2009

Fishing Area	DMP/CMP	Quota	Period	Net (size / mesh deep / length)	Weekend Closures	Trip Limit
16A – Île Verte	CMP - declaration of 100% of catches through the radio and dockside verification for 25% of landings	136	July - December	63.5 mm min / 125 mesh / 150 fath.	None	One landing a day of 9,072 kg
16B – Baie des Chaleurs (Fixed Gear)Small Seiners	DMP in N.B.CMP in P.Q. - declaration of 100% of catches through the radio and dockside verification for 25% of landings	600 (1)	July	66.7 mm min / 125 mesh / 150 fath.	None	One landing a day of 9,072 kg
		21,799	August 9 – December 31		13:00 Saturday to 17:00 Sunday 13:00 to 17:00 every day	One landing a day of 11,340 kg
		390	Late fishery – 2 weeks after the roe fishery		None	One landing a day of 11,340 kg
	DMP	714	July - December	N/A	N/A	N/A
16 C&E –Escuminac, Western PEI and northern GNS	DMP	500 (2)	July	66.7 mm min / 125 mesh / 150 fath.	18:00 Friday to 17:59 Sunday	One landing a day of 5,670 kg
		2,500 (Group A)	August 16 - TBD		None	Total daily landings of 9,752 kg
		2,500 (Group B)	August 16 - TBD
		3,192 (all)	Opens August 23
16D –Magdalen Islands	CMP - Well-keeping of a logbook, declaration of 100% of catches through the radio and dockside verification for 25% of landings	325	July 1 – December 31	66.7 mm min / 125 mesh / 150 fath.	None	None
16F – Pictou	DMP	500	July 1 – August 24	66.7 mm min / 125 mesh / 150 fath.	15:00 Friday to 14:59 Monday	Total daily landings of 6,804 kg
		8,008	August 30 – December 31	66.7 mm min / 125 mesh / 150 fath.	15:00 Friday to 14:59 Monday	Total daily landings of 6,804 kg
16G –Northside16G – Southside16G – Fishermen’s Bank	DMP	756	July 12 – August 21	66.7 mm min / 125 mesh / 150 fath.	18:00 Saturday to 17:59 Sunday	Total daily landings of 4,536 kg
		472	July 12 – August 21	66.7 mm min / 100 mesh / 150 fath.	15:00 Saturday to 14:59 Sunday	Total weekly landings of 36,287 kg
		7,280	August 23 – December 31	66.7 mm min / 125 mesh Northside – 100 mesh Southside / 150 fath.

1 – If any quota remains from the early fishery, 100 t will be added to the late fishery, and the remainder will be added to the roe fishery.

2 – A portion of 16E is open. Fish caught in that portion of 16E must be landed in that open area.