Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI) – June 24, 2025 - Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is announcing the fisheries management measures for the Prince Edward Island (PEI) groundfish fixed-gear licence holders, with vessels less than 13.1716 metres (45 feet) in overall length that have registered to fish Atlantic Halibut in 2025.
Individual Allocation
The Atlantic Halibut allocation for the PEI fixed gear fleet in 2025 will be 127.656 metric tonnes. Based on the number of registered participants, an individual catch limit of 478 kg round weight will be implemented. To convert dressed (head on, gutted) weight to round weight, multiply dressed weight by 1.14.
Season
In 2025, the PEI Atlantic halibut fishery will be four openings of four days, from Tuesday to Friday for each opening or until the quota is caught. The openings will occur on July 15 to 18, July 29 to August 01, September 16 to 19 and October 14 to 17. During open periods, the fishery will occur from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. on the last day of each opening. Licence holders are not permitted to leave port until 2 a.m. on the day of an opening and must return to port by 6 p.m. the last day of the opening.
The Atlantic Halibut fishery will close when the quota nears zero metric tonne or the quota is captured. If more than 10% of the quota remains after the fourth opening, a list of eligible licence holders will be created and the quota redistributed based on the individual catch limit.
Following a request from the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA), DFO has authorized halibut fishing in areas 4T5 and 4T7 for the 2025 season.
By-Catch Reporting
Fish harvesters are requested to document every encounter with specific discarded species, as listed in the licence conditions, by recording them in the comment section of the Fixed Gear (Groundfish) logbook. The species’ to be recorded include: Winter flounder (blackback) less than 25 cm in length, Atlantic halibut less than 85 cm in length, Skate, Dogfish and Lumpfish.