Moncton and Quebec—March 31, 2026
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) releases the details of the 2026 snow crab fishery Conservation Harvesting Plan (CHP) for the Crab Fishing Area (CFA) 12E.
Quota
The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) in CFA 12E is 243.56 tonnes. Details of the sharing of this TAC can be found in the CFA 12E snow crab administrative list.
The southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (sGSL) snow crab TAC by fishing area and scientific quota is available at the following link: 2026 - TAC and Allocation for the Scientific Survey for Snow Crab in the sGSL in Areas 12, 12E, 12F and 19.
Quota reconciliation
Quota reconciliation is applied in this fishery. Any individual quota overrun incurred by licence holders in one season will be deducted, on a one-for-one basis, from their individual quota for the following season. It is the responsibility of the licence holders to track their quotas to ensure that catches taken in the course of their fishing operations comply with the quotas allocated to them.
Temporary quota transfers
Licence holders who are subject to the owner-operator policy may transfer up to 50% of their initial quota on a temporary basis, within the same fishing season and within the same DFO administrative area (Eastern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec). No transfer of traps will be authorized during a temporary quota transfer.
Partnership arrangements
The creation of partnerships is authorized between two licence holders from the same DFO region. Both licence holders must be present on the boat during the fishing activities. The number of traps to be used cannot be greater than the legal number of traps authorized for one snow crab licence, plus 50 percent of the number of authorized traps of the other licence (partner).
Any overrun incurred in the previous year must be communicated and acknowledged by the licence holders entering the partnership, as DFO will deduct the overrun amount from the combined quota of the partnership.
Mandatory electronic logbooks (ELOGs)
The use of an ELOG is mandatory since 2025. This requirement applies to all commercial and communal commercial harvesters fishing snow crab in CFA 12E. The use of paper logbooks is no longer accepted.
Harvesters must purchase and use an ELOG application approved by DFO: Qualified electronic logbook (ELOG) client applications. Questions surrounding the purchase of or support for ELOG software should be directed to the individual ELOG application provider.
The following reporting requirements, which were reported prior to 2025 through alternate forms, must now be reported through the ELOG application:
- Interactions with a marine mammal (bycatch, collision and sightings of marine mammals entangled in fishing gear)
- Interaction with a species at risk
More information on ELOGs is available at the following link:
For any additional questions regarding the National ELOG program, please contact DFO at 1-877-535-7307 from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 18:00 (Atlantic Time), excluding holidays, or at the following email: fishing-peche@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
New in 2026
Changes to reporting of lost / retrieved fishing gear in the 2026 conditions of licence
- Revised language clarifying the definition of lost fishing gear to include any equipment, apparatus, or device used in fishing activities, whether intact or detached from the main fishing gear (such as buoys or ropes).
- Lost and retrieved gear reporting will be removed from ELOG.
- The Fishing Gear Reporting System (FGRS) is now the primary and authoritative system for reporting lost and retrieved fishing gear. If FGRS is unavailable, reports may be submitted through the PDF lost and retrieved fishing gear forms.
- More information on these changes is available in the following Notice to Fish Harvesters: 2026 - Conditions of Licence: Changes to Reporting of Lost / Retrieved Fishing Gear.
Tag colours
The colour for original tags must be light cyan, while the colour for replacement tags must be pistachio.
- Only one valid annual tag per trap. Tags from previous years must be removed.
- Licence holders must obtain their tags from suppliers approved by the DFO, a list of which is available at the following link: Approved Tag Suppliers.
Validity period
Notices may be issued before June 30 when the snow crab TAC is about to be reached (95%) and when it is reached (100%). Once fishing activities have been confirmed as completed for all licence holders, a notice to close the season may be issued.
2026 Management measures
Unless indicated otherwise, existing management measures remain in place. Please refer to your snow crab licence conditions for further details. The current management measures include, amongst others:
- The criteria for access to CFA 12 by CFAs 12E and 12F licence holders in case of closures of the fishing grounds are maintained and are defined in their licence conditions. The criteria are available at the following link: Criteria for access.
- At-sea observer coverage representing 20% of fishing trips.
- A soft-shell (white) crab monitoring protocol is in place. A fishing prohibition will only be applied if a persistent cause for concern is identified.
- 100% dockside monitoring.
- Landings must be weighed in kilograms on an electronic scale with a memory.
- The use of a vessel monitoring system (VMS) with five (5) minutes reporting intervals.
- Hail out telephone numbers: fish harvesters from both Gulf and Quebec Regions will be required to dial the following telephone number: 1-833-699-2013 (toll free) or 1-506-431-3223 (satellite phone only) for new hail, modified hail, and cancelled hail.
- Maximum mesh size of 75 mm.
- The licence holder/operator is prohibited from discarding in Canadian fisheries waters any material that may be harmful to fish or fish habitat.
- The inshore regulations require inshore commercial licence holders, and their approved substitute operators, to keep records of all the crew members working aboard the vessel on every fishing trip. These records must be maintained by the licence holder for a period of five (5) years.
- For proper management and control purposes, traps will be issued as described in the individual transferable quota (ITQ) program:
- ITQ up to 45 tonnes: 100 traps
- ITQ > 45 to 68 tonnes: 125 traps
- ITQ > 68 to 90 tonnes: 150 traps
- ITQ > 90 tonnes: 175 traps
- The Permanent Fishing closures for the coral and sponge conservation areas are maintained. Please visit the following link for additional information: Coral and Sponge Conservation Measures in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.
- Opening the fishery is subject to safety at sea, weather conditions and to DFO operational requirements. The opening date will be confirmed in a separate Notice to Fish Harvesters and by the issuance of a variation order.
- The fishery will close on June 30, 2026, at 23:59 hrs (Atlantic Daylight Time). All gear must be removed from the water by the end of the day on June 30th, meaning that the hauling of gear is prohibited after June 30th, but landing of traps and crabs can occur on July 1st, unless a notice to close the season is issued once fishing activities have ended for all licence holders (see section “New in 2026”).
2026 Management measures to minimize interactions with North Atlantic right whales (NARW)
The 2026 fisheries management measures to protect NARW in Canadian water are posted online at the following link: Fishery notices related to North Atlantic right whales.
- Since 2024, Notices of Fishing Prohibition to protect NARW are applied in the licence conditions, rather than issuing a variation order.
The requirements to minimize the length of rope floating on the surface of the water remain in effect:
- The total cumulative length of rope between a primary buoy and a secondary buoy shall not be more than 3.7 metres.
- No rope attaching a crab trap to a primary buoy shall remain floating on the surface of the water after the crab trap has been set.
All the requirements for gear marking remain in effect and the information on gear marking measures have been published in a Notice to Fish Harvesters that is available at the following link: Mandatory colour scheme for gear marking in Eastern Canada.
Before you go fishing
DFO assembled a list of requirements and documents harvesters will need before they start fishing. This list is available at the following address: Before you start fishing, you will need....