Snow Crab in Area 17 (St. Lawrence Estuary)

Species and region

Snow Crab Fishing Area number 17 is located in the St. Lawrence Estuary.

Season dates (subject to change)

The fishing season starts on March 30th at 5:00 a.m. and ends on June 21, 2011, at midnight. The opening will depend on the ice cover in the Estuary.

Total Allowable Catches (TAC) and sharing arrangements

Area 17 is harvested by 16 traditional snow crab licence holders, and 3 First Nations sharing 6 licences. In addition, a maximum of 34 beneficiaries are potentially eligible for a temporary individual allocation in 2011 under the permanent new access, which allocates them 12% of TAC since 2009.

The 2011 total allowable catches (TAC) are established at 1,573 tons, i.e. an increase of 10% compared to the previous year. The 22 regular licence holders have access to 1,384.2 tons, under individual quotas; whereas, 188.8 tons are granted to fishermen eligible in the permanent new access.

As announced at the last meeting of the advisory committee of snow crab area 17, the Department will proceed with the implementation of quota reconciliation starting from the 2011 fishing season. Therefore, all individual quota overruns by a licence holder during the 2011 season will be deducted from his 2012 individual quota, according to a one-for-one factor. It is the responsibility of the licence holder to respect the quantity allocated to him (QIT and QI) while taking into account his transfers and landings, and taking the necessary arrangements before departing for a fishing expedition in order to have the necessary quota to cover the catches that will likely be made during this expedition.

Management Measures

  • 100 % dockside monitoring and 5 to 15% at-sea observer coverage, depending on local variation.
  • Number of authorized traps:
     
    • Regular licence holders: Maximum of 85 standard traps or 170 Japanese traps.
    • New access fishers: Maximum of 50 standard traps or 100 Japanese traps.
  • The deployment plan is as follows:
     
    • 36 vessels authorized to fish simultaneously: 22 regular licence holders and 14 individual allocation holders.
    • New access fishermen having a double QI, by temporary transfer or following an acquisition of a new fishing business made at least 5 days before fishery start, as well as those doing buddy-up will start fishing first.
    • As soon as a traditional or an allocation fisherman finishes fishing, he is replaced by the next fisher on the list established by a draw.
    • The participants must carry out their activities within an acceptable period established for catching their allocations.

Please note that the 2011 procedures concerning the management of snow crab temporary allocation area 17, such as eligibility criteria will be provided in a separate notice to fishermen.

Species at Risk

As indicated in Section 73 of the Species At Risk Act, the following species must be returned to the water immediately and, when the fish is alive, in a manner that causes it the least harm: Northern wolffish, Spotted wolffish and Atlantic Leatherback turtle.