Snow Crab Fishing Area 4X - Maritimes Region

Species and Area

November 1 – March 31

263 t.

Trap Limits

Overruns

Quota transfers may be used to cover overruns.
Overruns not handled by quota transfer, will have a quota reconciliation automatically applied by the Commercial Data Division at a 1:1 ratio prior to the start of the next season.

There will be an allowance for a voluntary return to the water of:

Soft shell protocol

Representatives will be automatically notified daily by email or facsimile of areas of high incidence of soft shell (> 10%).
A latitude/longitude will be identified and fishers will voluntarily move 1.5nm miles from that location.
Individual fishers may obtain soft shell information by contacting DFO, their representatives or by providing DFO with an email address or facsimile number.

Bitter Crab Disease protocol

Fishers will note catches of crabs with BCD in the comment section of the logbook. DFO Science suggests that crab suspected of BCD be held in watertight containers since transmission of disease is unknown.
Dockside Monitors will verify for BCD, weigh out BCD crabs, and note weight in comments section before returning to fishers to dispose of on land.
NO BCD crab can be removed from the vessel until verified by the DMP monitor.
Additional restrictions will be considered if abuse of BCD protocol is suspected.

SARA

The licence holder/operator is required to provide information regarding interactions with leatherback turtles while conducting fishing operations, in the SARA monitoring document available from DFO.

CORE companies will inform DFO when a change to their membership occurs.
Partnerships

Partnerships may be formed between licences held by individuals, at which time 1 ½ traps may be requested. A partnership of two licences with 30 traps could request 45 traps while a partnership of two licences with 60 traps could request 90 traps.