2024 - Conservation Harvesting Plan for the herring fall fishery in Herring Fishing Areas 16A to 16G for fleets using mobile gear

Moncton (NB) and Québec (QC) - August 19, 2024 - This Conservation Harvesting Plan (CHP) presents management measures for herring licence holders using mobile gear.

For further information on fishing requirements and restrictions, licence holders must refer to the licence conditions.

New in 2024

A voluntary use of an electronic logbook (ELOG) for Gulf Region harvesters is authorized in 2024. Additional information are available on the following website: Electronic logbooks (ELOGS). 

Vessels greater than 19.81 metres

Management measures

• The Dockside Monitoring Program percentage coverage is 100%.
• The percentage of the spring spawners will be monitored for each fishing trip using a scientific protocol to determine catch composition (see Annex 1).  The fall fishery for the large seiners will be closed for the season when either of the following occurs:
  • exceeding 10% of spring spawner by-catch per fishing trip for two consecutive trips, or
  • a total amount of 25 t of spring spawner by-catch has been caught.
• The purse seine fishery is subject to the small fish protocol.
• The logbook is mandatory.
• The Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) is mandatory.
• The At-Sea Observer Program percentage coverage is 100%.
• Any allocation overrun in a given year is reconciled against the following season allocation.

Fishing restrictions

• From January 1^st to December 31^st, fishing is prohibited in a portion of Herring Fishing Area 16G off the northeast coast of Prince Edward Island (see Chart 1).
• From January 1^st to December 31^st, fishing is prohibited west of the line between Grande-Anse, New Brunswick and Paspébiac, Quebec (see Chart 2).
• From August 1^st to 31^st, fishing is prohibited inside Chaleurs Bay (see Chart 2).
• A cap of 50 per cent of the fall spawners allocation (975 t) is allowed to be caught inside the Chaleurs Bay (see Chart 2).

Vessels smaller than 19.81 metres

Management measures

• The Dockside Monitoring Program percentage coverage is 100%.
• The percentage of the spring spawners will be monitored for each fishing trip using a scientific protocol to determine catch composition (see Annex 1). The fall fishery for the small seiners will be closed for the season when either of the following occurs:
  • exceeding 10% of spring spawner by-catch per fishing trip for two consecutive trips, or
  • a total amount of 25 t of spring spawner by-catch has been caught.
• The purse seine fishery is subject to the small fish protocol.
• The logbook is mandatory.
• Any allocation overrun in a given year is reconciled against the following season allocation.

Fishing restrictions

• From January 1^st to December 31^st, fishing is prohibited in a portion of Herring Fishing Area 16G off the northeast coast of Prince Edward Island (see Chart 1).
• From January 1^st to December 31^st, fishing is prohibited west of the line between Grande-Anse, New Brunswick and Paspébiac, Quebec (see Chart 2).
• From August 1^st to 31^st, fishing is prohibited inside Chaleurs Bay (see Chart 2).

ANNEX 1

SCIENTIFIC PROTOCOL TO IDENTIFY THE SPRING SPAWNER COMPONENT DURING THE HERRING FALL FISHERY

The following biological sampling of herring is required for each landing by the Gulf purse seine fleet during the fall fishery:

1. A total of at least 200 herrings, randomly selected, must be sampled for each trip.
2. In the event no DFO port samplers are available to collect the fish at landing, all the herring samples taken must be placed in a few well-identified plastic bags then inside a sample box. Requested information must be recorded directly on the box. Each box should be frozen as quickly as possible and stored.
3. All pertinent information, such as the vessel name, date and time of the catch, fishing area, and especially the position coordinates (latitude /longitude) where the herring was caught must be provided.
4. If a port sampler is available, DFO is responsible for transporting the samples to the Gulf Fishery Centre in Moncton (GFC). Otherwise, the fishers will be responsible for shipping the frozen samples to the GFC.
5. A logbook form must be filled out for each trip.

      FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: 

       Joeleen Savoie
      EMAIL: joeleen.savoie@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
      TEL: 506-227-8411

Chart 1

Portion of Herring Fishing Area 16G located off northeast PEI

Definition of the closed portion of Herring Fishing Area 16G

This portion of HFA 16 is closed to herring fishing from April 1^st to June 30^th to vessels using fixed gear and from January 1^st to December 31^st to vessels using a purse seine. This portion of HFA 16G is defined as the waters enclosed by the coastline and rhumb lines (similar to straight lines drawn on a nautical chart) connecting the following points in the order they are listed below:

Points illustrated in Chart 1 defining the closed portion of Herring Fishing Area 16G

Points	Latitude North	Latitude West
1	46°25'00" N	63°06'00" O
2	46°33'00" N	63°06'00" O
3	46°35'00" N	61°47'00" O
4	46°27'00" N	61°43'00" O
5	46°23'30" N	61°50'45" O
6	46°26'55" N	61°58'25" O

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.

Chart 2

Line from Grande-Anse to Paspébiac and the Chaleurs Bay boundary line

Definition of the line from Grande-Anse to Paspébiac

Between January 1^st and December 31^st, it is prohibited to fish herring with a vessel using purse seine in 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:

Points illustrated in Chart 2 defining the line from Grande-Anse to Paspébiac

Points	Latitude North	Longitude West
A	48º01’00" N	65º14’40" O
B	47º49’00" N	65º11’00" O

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.

Definition of inside the Chaleurs Bay

Inside the Chaleurs Bay is 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:

Points illustrated in Chart 2 defining the inside of the Chaleurs Bay

Points	Latitude North	Longitude West
1	47°24'00" N	64°54'00" O
2	48°02'00" N	64°04'00" O
3	48°52'00" N	64°04'00" O
4	48°52'00" N	64°12'00" O

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.