2026-2027 – Management approach per sector and total allowable catch for the herring fall fishery of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (fall spawner component)

Moncton (NB) and Quebec (QC) – July 3, 2026 – Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announces the implementation of the Management Approach per Sector (MAS) for the distribution of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the herring fall fishery (fall spawners component) of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (sGSL). The MAS aligns with the updated scientific model used for the stock assessment and distributes the TAC according to the biomass estimates of each sector.

The sector catch limits are set at: 6,500 metric tonnes (t) (north), 3,000 t (central) and 6,000 t (south) for a total TAC of 15,500 t for the sGSL in 2026 and 2027. The allocations are distributed according to the fleet and Herring Fishing Area (HFA) shares per sector (Annex 1).

^* 1% of the catch limit total in all three sectors; no fishing activities.

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

ANNEX 1

Fleet and HFA shares per sector

Distribution of the mobile fleet share per sector for the fall and Edge fishery¹

¹ The season for the Edge fishery is from May to June. 

² A maximum of 50% of the allocation in the North sector can be captured inside Chaleur Bay, while the entire allocation can be captured outside Chaleur Bay.