2019 Rock Crab fishery in Lobster Fishing Area 26A
Moncton, New Brunswick (NB) – August 1st, 2019 – The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Gulf Region, is announcing the management measures for the Rock Crab fishery in the Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 26A that will be in effect for the 2019 fishing season. Unless indicated otherwise, existing management measures remain in place. Please refer to your Rock Crab licence conditions for further details.
Season dates
The opening date will be 6:00 a.m., Monday August 5, 2019. The last day of fishing will be Saturday, November 30, 2019 (inclusively).
DFO wishes to remind fish harvesters to take extra care when navigating on the opening day of the Rock Crab fishery as vessels are loaded with gear and traps. Harvesters are encouraged to act diligently in setting their traps and should ensure that vessels are loaded safely by reducing the quantity of gear if necessary.
Requirement to report lost and retrieved gear
- As in 2018, the requirement to report lost gear to DFO remains in place.
- NEW requirement - Starting in 2019, licence holders must report the retrieval of any of their own gear previously reported lost to DFO.
- The Lost fishing gear form and the Retrieval of previously reported fishing gear form are included in licence conditions and are now available online.
- The appropriate forms must be completed and submitted within 24 hours of entering to port (new timeframe).
Requirement to report interactions with marine mammals
- The Marine Mammal Interaction Form will remain included with the licence conditions and must be completed and submitted by email to: DFO.NAT.InteractionsMM-InteractionsMM.NAT.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca unless it is filled out online. The form must be submitted within 48 hours of the end of a fishing trip.
Please refer to the separate Notice to Fish Harvesters issued on July 11, 2019 for additional information on Management measures to protect North Atlantic Right Whales.
Other Management Measures which will continue to apply in 2019:
| Biodegradable Panels: | The use of biodegradable panels on all traps, including modified Lobster traps, is mandatory. Please refer to your Licence Conditions for specifications on these panels. |
| Dockside Monitoring: | Licence holders are responsible for making arrangements with dockside monitoring companies for data entry of catch and effort information; a condition to this effect is included in all licences. Note that all the catch must be weighed in kilograms (kg) at one decimal point on an approved scale. |
| Logbooks: | Logbooks/landing reports are mandatory and must be completed as stipulated in licence conditions. |
| Number of traps: | Commercial licences - 90 traps. Communal commercial licences – 90 traps. |
| Catch limitation: | Commercial licences – 23,913 kg. Communal commercial licences – 23,913 kg. |
| Minimum size: | Only male Rock Crabs, with a minimum carapace width size of 108 mm, may be retained in the directed fishery. |
DFO will continue to honour the principle that prioritizes the fishery as follows: Lobster by-catch; Lobster bait; directed Rock Crab fishery.
For more information
Josiane Massiéra |
Alan Dwyer |
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Kim Lowe |
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