2023 - Conservation Harvesting Plan for the herring fall fishery in Herring Fishing Areas 16A to 16G – Fleets using gillnets (fall spawners component)

Moncton (NB) and Quebec (QC) - August 10, 2023 (Revised) - This Conservation Harvesting Plan (CHP) presents the management measures for fleets using gillnets.

For further information on fishing requirements and restrictions, licence holders must refer to their respective conditions of licence. Conditions of licence will be made available for participating harvesters in the National Online Licensing System (NOLS).

New management measures for 2023

Mandatory hail out for harvesters from the Gulf and Quebec regions

DFO is implementing a mandatory hail out for the commercial and bait herring fisheries in 2023 for all harvesters from the Gulf and Quebec regions.

Bait landings

Bait catches will be counted as part of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC).

Other management measures

A summary of the management measures by Herring Fishing Areas (HFAs) is provided in Annex 1.

• Any allocation overrun in a given year is reconciled against the following season allocation.

Herring Fishing Areas 16C & 16E

Group A (New Brunswick fish harvesters) and Group B (Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia fish harvesters) will begin the fall fishery with an initial competitive allocation of 333 t. When the initial competitive quota is reached, the remaining allocation will be divided equally between Group A and Group B. Any excess quota caught from the initial allocation will be deducted from the total allocation remaining for both groups.

Fish harvesters from HFA 16E who have received their conditions of licence to participate in the summer fishery will not have access to the fall fishery.

Herring Fishing Area 17

Access to HFA 17 (northern portion of 4Vn ) will be subject to guidelines under the Maritimes Region herring management plan.

Annex 1

2023 management measures of the fall herring fishery for fleets using gillnets

• HFA 16A - Île Verte
  • Monitoring¹:
    • CMP - 100%
    • DMP - 25%
    • E-log - mandatory
    • Hail-out - mandatory
  • Allocation²: 18 t
  • Period: July 1 - December 31
  • Net³:
    • Mesh size: 63.5 mm minimum
    • Depth: 125 mesh
    • Length: 150 fathoms
  • Closures⁴: none
  • Trip limit: One landing per day
• HFA 16B - Chaleurs bay
  • Monitoring¹:
    • NB:
      • DMP - 100%
      • Logbook - mandatory
      • Hail out - mandatory
    • QC:
      • CMP - 100%
      • DMP - 25%
      • E-log - mandatory
      • Hail out - mandatory
  • Allocation²: 5,267 t
  • Period: August 20 - December 31
  • Net³:
    • Mesh size: 66.7 mm minimum
    • Depth: 125 mesh
    • Length: 125 fathoms
  • Closures⁴:
    • Friday 13:00 to Sunday 19:00
    • Weekdays 13:00 to 19:00
  • Trip limit:
    • one landing per day, daily limit of 10,206 kg (22,500 lbs) or self-managed by industry
• HFA 16B - Small seiners
  • Monitoring¹:
    • NB:
      • DMP - 100%
      • Logbook - mandatory
      • Hail out - mandatory
    • QC:
      • CMP - 100%
      • DMP - 25%
      • E-log - mandatory
      • Hail out - mandatory
  • Allocation²: 157 t
  • Period: August 20 - December 31
  • Net³:
    • Mesh size: 66.7 mm minimum
    • Depth: 125 mesh
    • Length: 125 fathoms
  • Closures⁴:
    • Friday 13:00 to Sunday 19:00
    • Weekdays 13:00 to 19:00
  • Trip limit:
    • one landing per day, daily limit of 10,206 kg (22,500 lbs) or self-managed by industry
• 16 C&E - Escuminac, Western PEI and northern GNS
  • Monitoring¹:
    • DMP - 100%
    • Logbook - mandatory
    • Hail out - mandatory
  • Allocations²:
    • 2,218 t
    • Competitive fishery (333 t), remaining tonnage equally divided to Groups A and B
  • Period: September 3 - December 31
  • Net³:
    • Mesh size: 66.7 mm minimum
    • Depth: 125 mesh
    • Length: 150 fathoms
  • Closures⁴:
    • Friday 11:00 to Sunday 19:00
    • Weekdays 11:00 to 19:00
  • Trip limit:
    • daily limit of 9,752 kg (21,500 lbs) or daily limit self-managed by industry (for Group A)
• 16D - Magdalen Islands
  • Monitoring¹:
    • CMP - 100%
    • DMP - 25%
    • E-log - mandatory
    • Hail out - mandatory
  • Allocation²: 75 t
  • Period: July 1 - December 31
  • Net³:
    • Mesh size: 66.7 mm minimum
    • Depth: 125 mesh
    • Length: 150 fathoms
  • Closures⁴: none
  • Trip limit: none
• 16F - Pictou
  • Monitoring¹:
    • DMP - 100%
    • Logbook - mandatory
    • Hail out - mandatory
  • Allocation²: 2,279 t
  • Period: September 17 - October 13
  • Net³:
    • Mesh size: 66.7 mm minimum
    • Depth: 125 mesh
    • Length: 100 fathoms
  • Closures⁴:
    • Friday 12:00 to Sunday 18:00
    • Weekdays 12:00 to 18:00
  • Trip limit:
    • One landing per day, daily limit self-managed by industry
• 16G - Northside (see chart 1)
  • Monitoring¹:
    • DMP - 100%
    • Logbook - mandatory
    • Hail out - mandatory
  • Allocations²:
    • 1,515 t divided as follow:
      • 20% North side (303 t)
      • 80% South side (1,212 t)
  • Period: September 3 - October 6
  • Net³:
    • Mesh size: 66.7 mm minimum
    • Depth: 125 mesh
    • Length: 150 fathoms
  • Closures⁴: 15:00 Friday to 15:00 Sunday
  • Trip limit:
    • Maximum 2 landings per day, daily and weekly limit self-managed by industry
• 16G Southside
  • Monitoring¹:
    • DMP - 100%
    • Logbook - mandatory
    • Hail out - mandatory
  • Allocations²:
    • 1,515 t divided as follow:
      • 20% North side (303 t)
      • 80% South side (1,212 t)
  • Period: September 3 - October 6
  • Net³:
    • Mesh size: 66.7 mm minimum
    • Depth: 100 mesh
    • Length: 150 fathoms
  • Closures⁴: 15:00 Friday to 15:00 Sunday
  • Trip limit:
    • Maximum 2 landings per day, daily and weekly limit self-managed by industry

• ^1: DMP - dockside monitoring program / CMP - catch monitoring program / E-log - electronic logbook.
• ^2: The allocations will be adjusted based on the summer fishery landings.
• ^3: Tagging of gillnets is required in all HFAs.
• ^4: Dates and times are based on Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT). No nets to remain in the water during the closures.

Chart 1

Northern part of HFA 16G

The Northern portion of HFA 16G defined as the waters enclosed by the coastline and rhumb lines (similar to straight lines drawn on a nautical chart) joining the following points in the order in which they are listed:

1. 46° 26' 00'' N - 63° 15' 00'' W
2. 46° 50' 00'' N - 62° 32' 00'' W
3. 46° 56' 42'' N - 61° 30' 00'' W
4. 46° 26' 55'' N - 61° 30' 00'' W
5. 46° 26' 55'' N - 61° 58' 25'' W (EAST POINT)

Note: When the geographic boundary of an area is expressed in latitude and longitude, these point references are based on the geodesic system North American Datum 1927 (NAD27). The positions are expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds.