Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI) – June 29, 2022 – The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Gulf Region is announcing the management measures for the rock crab fishery in Lobster Fishing Area (LFA 24) in 2022.
Fishing Season:
The season in LFA 24 will open at 6:00 a.m. on July 9, 2022 and will remain open until October 26, 2022.
NEW management measures in place for the 2022 fishing season:
In 2022, all commercial fisheries in Canada have a new condition of licence relating to the discharge of garbage from Canadian fishing vessels. The licence holder/operator is prohibited from discarding in Canadian fisheries waters from their vessel anything that may be harmful to fish or fish habitat. Refer to the Notice to Fish Harvesters sent on April 7, 2022 for further details: Commercial fishery requirements.
Fishing gear reporting system (or Lost Gear Reporting)
A new online system was launched in July 2021 to allow commercial harvesters to conveniently input lost and retrieved gear information from any smart electronic device. The system is able to capture information such as descriptions, cause of loss and location of the lost gear. Fish harvesters can create their account and begin reporting their data through the system at this website: Fishing Gear Reporting System.
Other management measures which will continue to apply in 2022:
Biodegradable Panels: The use of modified biodegradables mechanisms on all traps, including modified lobster traps, is mandatory. Please refer to your Licence Conditions for specifications on these biodegradable mechanisms.
Data entry: The licence holder is responsible to enter into an agreement with a dockside monitoring company for data entry of catch and effort information; a condition to this effect is included in all licences.
Logbooks: Crab Logbooks/landing report are mandatory and must be completed as stipulated in licence conditions.
Dockside Monitoring Program: All of the catch must be weighed in kilograms at one decimal point on an approved scale.
Number of traps:
Commercial licences - 150 traps.
First Nations communal commercial licences – 150 traps.
Catch limitation:
Commercial licences – 20,000 kg.
Communal commercial licences – 20,000 kg.
Minimum size: Only male rock crabs, with a minimum carapace width of 102 mm, may be retained.
DFO will continue to apply the exploitation principle that prioritizes the rock crab fishery as follows: by-catch in the lobster fishery, bait for the lobster fishery and then directed rock crab fishery.