Area 17 Snow Crab (St. Lawrence Estuary)

Species and Area

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

Dates of season (subject to change)

The fishing season will start March 29 at 5:00 a.m. and end June 20, 2012, at midnight. Opening will depend on the ice cover in the Estuary.

Total Allowable Catches and Sharing Arrangements

Area 17 is fished by 16 traditional snow crab licence holders and 3 First Nations sharing 6 licences (Gr. A). In addition, a maximum of 32 beneficiaries may be eligible for temporary individual allocations in 2012 under the new permanent access (Gr. B), which, since 2009, grants them 12% of the TAC.

The 2012 total allowable catch (TAC) is 1,809 tonnes, a 15% increase compared to last year, which is consistent with the advice of the Sciences Branch. The 22 regular licence holders (Gr. A) therefore have access to 1,592 tonnes under individual transferable quotas (ITQ), while 217 tonnes are allocated to fishers eligible of Gr. B..

As announced in 2011, the Department will apply quota reconciliation to quotas in 2012 and subsequent years. Therefore, all individual quota overrun during a given season by a licence holder will be deducted from his or her individual quota the following year on a one-for-one basis. The licence holder is responsible for adhering to the quantity he or she is allocated (ITQ and IQ) by taking into account his or her transfers and landings and making the necessary arrangements before leaving on a fishing expedition to have the necessary quota to cover the presumed harvest.

Management Measures

100% dockside monitoring and 5% to 15% at-sea observers’ coverage, based on conservation needs.
Number of authorized traps:
- Regular licence holders of Gr. A: Maximum of 85 standard traps or 170 Japanese traps.
- Fish harvesters of Gr. B.: Maximum of 50 standard traps or 100 Japanese traps.
The deployment plan will be as follows:
- The number of boats on the water will be limited to 41 at the start of the season:
  - A limit of 36 boats maximum (22 Gr. A and 14 Gr. B) will be in place for the traditionals, First Nations and fish harvesters of the new access from Gaspe–Lower St. Lawrence), for the first 3 weeks of fishing in all of Area 17;
  - The 5 fish harvesters of Gr. B from the Upper and Middle North Shore will no longer be subject to this deployment plan and may therefore begin fishing as of March 29;
- Fish harvesters of Gr. B. who have a double IQ, whether through temporary transfer, buddy up or following the acquisition of another fishing enterprise minimum 5 days prior to the opening of the fishing season, will begin fishing first.
- Beginning the fourth week, the number of Gr. B fish harvester will no longer be limited for the fishing areas east of Matane;
- As soon as a fish harvesters from Gr. A or Gr. B has completed fishing his full allocation, he is replaced by the next one on a list established through a draw.
- Participants must carry out their activities within a period considered acceptable for harvesting their allocations.

Please note that the new 2012 procedures for management of the Gr. B snow crab allocations in Area 17 will be communicated soon.

Species at Risk

Pursuant to the Species at Risk Act (SARA), no person shall kill, harm, harass, capture, take, possess, collect, buy, sell or trade an individual or any part or derivate of a wildlife species designated as extirpated, endangered or threatened.

At the time this Management Plan is promulgated, the Gulf of St.-Lawrence and the Atlantic species targeted by these measures are the following ones : Spotted wolffish, Northern wolffish, Leatherback Turtle and Striped Bass (St. Lawrence Estuary population). New species could be added in the course of the year.

All by-catches of species identified above must be returned to the water and released in the exact capture location and, if the fish is still alive, with as little harm as possible. In addition, information regarding interactions with species at risk must be recorded in the Species at risk section of the logbook.