Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI) – September 19, 2022 - Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Gulf Region, wishes to advise the PEI commercial smelt licence holders that the season will open as follows: Gill net – October 1, 2022 and remain open until February 28, 2023; Trap net – October 15, 2022 and remain open until February 28, 2023.
NEW management measures to be implemented for the 2022 fishing season
Catch Monitoring
There is a new log sheet requirement for all licence holder/operators. The licence holder is required to maintain an up-to-date record of all fishing activities. This log sheet will be attached to all licence holders’ conditions. The Smelt Log sheet must be presented within fourteen (14) days after the closure of the commercial Smelt fishing season to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Resource Management, P.O. Box 1236, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 7M8. A nil report must be provided if there was no fishing during the entire fishing season.
Discarding of Waste/Garbage
The licence holder/operator is prohibited from discarding in Canadian fisheries waters from their vessel any item that may be harmful to fish or fish habitat including but not limited to plastics, ropes, fishing gear, garbage bags, fuel, oil, rags, glass, bottles, metal, extruded polystyrene foam (e.g., styrofoam) and tires.
All other management measures will remain the same for the 2022 season.