2023 - Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence Lobster Conservation Harvesting Plan for Lobster Fishing Areas (LFAs) 23, 24, 26A and 26B

Moncton, NB – March 30, 2023

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Gulf Region, announces the 2023 management measures for Lobster Fishing Areas (LFAs) 23, 24, 26A and 26B. Unless indicated otherwise, existing management measures remain in place. Please refer to your lobster licence conditions for further details. Licence conditions should be available on the National Online Licensing System on March 30, 2023.

Please note that additional management measures may be announced.

Management measures and the season dates for LFA 25 will be issued at a later date.

Opening Dates in 2023

As previously announced, there were changes to the Guidelines on Opening / Closing Dates for the Commercial Lobster Fishery in the Gulf Region.

These are targeted season dates and subject to change due to ice, weather or other conditions.

DFO will monitor and assess the situation at the various wharves a few weeks before the scheduled opening. Conference calls will be held in the days leading up to the scheduled opening between DFO and stakeholders to obtain feedback on the situation at various locations in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Management measures in place for the 2023 fishing season

Management measures to minimize interactions with North Atlantic Right Whales

The management measures to minimize interactions with North Atlantic Right Whales (NARW) can be found on the DFO website.

Notes:

1. See table 2 for height of escape mechanism corresponding to the minimum carapace size in effect.
2. As defined by licence conditions (female Lobster of a length of 115 mm but not more than 129 mm shall be returned to the water immediately in a manner that causes it the least harm).
3. As defined by licence conditions.
4. Commercial licence holders: 255 traps/Some Communal Commercial licence holders: 275 traps.
5. Closure to fishing of Cheticamp Harbour.

Height and Length of Escape Mechanisms

The height of the escape mechanism as indicated in Table 2A and 2B needs to be adjusted according to the minimum legal carapace size in effect in each LFA (refer to Table 1 for minimum legal size).

Restrictions on the movement of lobster licences

For information on restriction on the movement of lobster licences you can refer to the Commercial Fisheries Licensing Policy for Gulf Region.

Daily closed time

The daily close time is from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. in LFA 23.

Transit corridors

The transit corridors remain in effect and a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) is required (every 5 minutes) if using the transit corridor.  The corridor allows fish harvesters to transport their catches through that area to reach their homeport avoiding the use of the smack boat. For this reason, a validity period is added to LFA 23D licences from the date of issuance to June 30. The opening and closing of the season will remain as indicated in the Fisheries Regulations or as announced in a Variation Order. The coordinates for the corridor are identified in the Variation Order and the licence conditions of those using the corridor.

Logbook

Licence holders that will not be using an Electronic logbooks (ELOGS) are still required to use paper logbooks and submit them to DFO on a monthly basis as in previous years. The list of paper logbook suppliers is available on the DFO website.

Before you go fishing

The Department has assembled a list of requirements and documents harvesters will need before they start fishing. This list is available at:  Before you start fishing, you will need...

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