2023 - Total Allowable Catch for the Herring Fall Fishery of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (fall spawners component)

Moncton (NB) and Québec (QC) – June 30, 2023 – Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announces the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the herring fall fishery (fall spawners component) of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence for Herring Fishing Areas (HFAs) 16A to 16G and 17.

The TAC remains at 10,000 t for 2023 with allocations distributed according to fleet shares and the reserve distribution rules (Annex 1) with an additional 5,000 t are distributed according to existing shares; however, the fishery will be closed once the TAC of 10,000 t is captured.

NEW IN 2023

Mandatory hail out for harvesters in 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 part of the TAC

Bait catches will be counted as part of the TAC

ANNEX 1

2023 – Reserve distribution rules

1. The reserve distribution rules are only applicable to the fixed gear fleet.
2. Each HFA will maintain its share at the closing of the fishing season.
3. The reserve is established according to predetermined percentage of the initial allocation from the following HFAs:
   • 80% of the allocation from HFA 16A
   • 80% of the allocation from HFA 16D
   • 18.548% of the allocation from HFA 16G
   • 80% of the allocation from Area 17
4. The reserve is divided equally to HFAs 16C and 16E (50%) and 16F (50%).
5. The reserve distribution rules are evaluated annually to take into consideration conservation concerns.
6. If the allocation for HFA 16A, 16D or 16G is no longer sufficient after the reserve deductions, due to an increase in abundance, there will be a revision of the reserve distribution rules.

*Risk managed, no fishing activities.