Application

 

This Conservation Harvesting Plan (CHP) for Lobster applies to the licence holders from the Magdalen Islands fleet when fishing lobster in Lobster Fishing Area 22 in 2021.

 

Fishing area

 

Subject to any Variation Order and based on valid Conditions of licence, the authorized fishing area is Lobster Fishing Area 22, a coastal area surrounding the Magdalen Islands.

 

Fishing closures

 

Pursuant to the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985, lobster fishing is prohibited in the Magdalen Islands lagoons.

 

Fishing is also prohibited in a sector of the Grande-Entrée channel and in the aquaculture sites under federal lease. The coordinate of these areas are described in the Conditions of licence.

 

Coral and Sponge Conservation Areas in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence

 

On December 15, 2017, Fisheries and Oceans Canada created eleven coral and sponge conservation areas in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence in order to protect areas with high concentrations of sponges and sea pens.

 

All fishing activities that use bottom-contact gear or gear designed to come into contact with the sea bed, including but not limited to bottom trawls, dredges, gillnets, bottom longlines, bottom seines and traps, are forbidden in the conservation areas.

 

For more information and maps of the eleven coral and sponge conservation areas, please visit the dedicated DFO website: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/ceccsr-cerceef/egsl-eng.html.

 

Fishing seasons

 

The fishing season will open on May 8 and will end on July 10, 2021. It represents the maximum duration of fishing period and will be confirmed through Variation Order.

 

Moreover, to encourage the safest possible setting of traps for all lobster fish harvesters, a Weather Condition Monitoring Protocol updated in winter 2014 is in place in order to postpone the setting of traps when, at 15:30 h the day before the opening, the wind forecast is more than 20 knots for the following morning.

 

It should be reminded that it is the responsibility of the captain to acquaint himself with the marine safety notices published by Environment and Climate Change Canada and Transport Canada as well as with the standards and best practices in marine safety and to take all measures necessary to insure a safe fishery during the period where fishing is authorized.

 

Fishing (lifting of traps) is authorized during the period comprised between 5 h and 21:30 h, from Monday to Saturday, with the exception of the last two fishing days of the season when the fishing schedule does not apply. If, for exceptional reasons beyond his or her control, a fish harvester is unable to respect the fishing schedule in effect, he (she) must contact a DFO Fishery Officer to obtain authorization to deviate from the established schedule for that day.

 

Fishing (lifting of traps) remains unauthorized on the day the traps are set, as well as on Sundays.

 

Number of licences

 

325 licence holders.

 

Management regime

 

The fishery is managed by control of the fishing effort.

 

Fish harvesters are not authorized to haul their traps more than once per day.

 

Minimum catch size

 

Under the 1985 Atlantic Fishery Regulations, the minimum catch size is 83 mm.

 

Maximum catch size

 

Starting in 2021, a maximum catch size is established at 145 mm.

 

Fishing gear

 

Number of authorized traps and traps dimensions

 

Fish harvesters are authorized to use 273 traps with maximum outside dimensions not exceeding:

 

• 82 cm in length, 61 cm in width and 50 cm in height for rounds traps;
• 82 cm in length, 61 cm in width and 42 cm in height for square traps.

 

Escape mechanisms

 

Each trap must be equipped with one rectangular escape vent (minimum 47 mm high by minimum 127 mm long) or two circular escape vents (minimum 65 mm diameter).

 

Exit panels

 

Each lobster trap must be equipped with one exit panel compliant with the 1985 Atlantic Fishing Regulations or with a soft cotton twine.

 

Tagging

 

It is prohibited to have on board a fishing vessel an untagged trap. Fish harvesters are authorized to keep on board the fishing vessel two replacement traps, as long as they bear a valid tag. In 2021, the color of original tags is yellow and the color of replacement tags is pale blue.

 

Trap lines (trawl)

 

Minimum 7 traps per line; maximum 8 fathoms between each trap; and maximum 56 fathoms from the first to the last trap, no matter the number of traps per line.

 

Buoy identification

 

Fish harvesters are responsible for ensuring that their commercial fishing vessel registration number (VRN) appears on their buoys at any time.

 

Management measures to minimize the risks of interactions with the North Atlantic Right Whale

 

Since 2017, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has put in place additional management measures to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale from entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes. These measures take into account the best available scientific data and can be adapted if necessary to take into account future developments regarding interactions prevention.

 

The following requirements have been implemented in order to reduce the risk of entanglement of North Atlantic Right Whales:

 

Amount of Rope Floating on the Surface of the Water

 

Since 2018, the following requirements are in place to minimize the length of rope floating on the surface of the water and reduce the risk of North Atlantic Right Whales entanglements:

 

• A maximum of 3.5 fathoms of rope must be used when attaching one or more secondary buoys to a primary buoy.
• At the exception of the rope attaching secondary buoys, no rope must remain floating on the surface at any time.

 

Note: A primary buoy is defined as a buoy or other floating device attached to a fishing gear. A secondary buoy is defined as a buoy or other floating device attached to a primary buoy.

 

Gear marking

 

As of 2020, licence holders using fixed gear must mark the rope used to attach a fishing gear to a primary buoy with colours specific to the region, targeted species and fishing area in which they are authorized to fish. This requirement is intended to facilitate the identification of the area where an entanglement has occurred. The following coloured markings are required for the Area 22 lobster fleet:

 

Fleet	Colours for marking
Lobster area 22	Green-yellow

 

The gear marking consisting of interlacing different coloured twine sections within existing rope must be implemented as follows:

 

1. The first colour to identify specific Region – to be interlaced on the same segment of rope as the second colour.
2. The second colour to identify target Species – to be interlaced on the same segment of rope as the first colour.

 

The above coloured twine markings must be permanently interlaced within the rope. Each coloured twine must be interlaced in the rope on a minimum length of 15 cm. The use of paint or tape is not an admissible alternative to twine.

 

The minimum requirements regarding the number and position of colour markings are detailed in the Conditions of licence.

 

For more information

 

All the information on gear marking measures has been published in the April 22th, 2020 Notice to Fish Harvesters, available at the following link: https://inter-l01.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/applications/opti-opei/notice-avis-eng.php?region_id=4&sub_type_id=5&type=1&display_option=1.

 

Additional Identification of Buoys

 

In addition to the regulatory requirement to mark buoys with the vessel registration number (VRN), licence holders are required to add a sequential number on each primary buoy in order to be able to individually identify each trawl. This additional requirement will help identify and retrieve lost gear and could also help identify the sector where a NARW may have become entangled.

 

The sequential number must be solid block Arabic numerals:

 

• without ornamentation;

 

• written in a smaller or bigger font size than the VRN so as to be capable of differentiating the number from the VRN; and
• in a colour that contrasts with the buoy’s colour.

 

Requirement to report lost and retrieved gear

 

Lost gear reporting

 

The licence holder must report any of their lost fishing gear within 24 hours of returning to port. Reports of lost gear must be submitted to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) by completing the section reserved for that purpose in its electronic logbook.

 

Retrieved gear reporting

 

The licence holder must report the retrieval of any of their own previously reported lost gear within 24 hours of returning to port by completing and submitting the Retrieval of Previously Reported Lost Fishing Gear form available online at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/commercial-commerciale/index-eng.html.

 

Retrieval can only occur during the validity period of the conditions of licence and only in relation to the specific type of gear authorized to be used by the licence.

 

What to do if you observe a North Atlantic right whale?

 

First of all, it is important to maintain a minimum distance of 100 meters from the animal and 200 meters if the whale is accompanied by a calve. Details regarding sightings of live and free-swimming right whales may be provided to DFO at: XMARWhalesightings@dfo-mpo.gc.ca or by phone at 1-844-800-8568. If you observe this species, please send us your contact information and information about the sighting (date, time, geographical position, number of individuals, etc.). If possible, please send us photos or videos.

 

If you see a right whale entangled in fishing gear, you should not under any circumstances attempt to release it on your own. The behaviour of an entangled individual is unpredictable and dangerous. You should contact "Marine Mammal Emergencies" at 1‑877-722-5346 as soon as possible to share information that will help to organize an appropriate response by experts (time and position of the entangled animal, behavior of the individual, details on the weather and the state of the sea, etc.).

 

Marine mammal interaction reporting

 

In order to comply with the implementation of the US Marine Mammals Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, licence holders must now provide information regarding all interactions with a marine mammal that occur during fishing expeditions including: bycatch, collisions and all sightings of entangled marine mammals. To do this, the Marine Mammal Interaction Form must be completed and submitted by email to DFO.NAT.InteractionsMM-InteractionsMM.NAT.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca within 48 hours after the end of a fishing trip.

 

A copy of the form is attached to the Conditions of licence and can also be downloaded and submitted online at the following address:  http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/mammals-mammiferes/report-rapport/page01-eng.html

 

The information provided on this form will be used by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to estimate levels of accidental mortality and injury to marine mammals. This information will allow DFO to better assess the types of threats that may affect Canada's marine mammals and to develop mitigation strategies.

 

In addition, if you observe a dead or distressed animal, please contact Marine Mammal Emergencies as soon as possible at 1-877-722-5346. If possible, do not hesitate to take photos or videos that will allow DFO to assess the situation and identify the species.

 

Electronic logbook

 

As of 2019, the use of an electronic logbook (Elog) is mandatory for all Area 22 lobster fishermen. The client application used must be approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the Quebec region for the formELOG – Logbook - Traps (lobster). Furthermore, the user must have obtained and installed his Elog Key in his client application in order to allow data transmission to DFO.

 

The Elog must be completed for each fishing expedition and “closed” before landing. A fishing expedition means a voyage that commences at the time a fishing vessel leaves a port to engage in fishing and terminates at the time fish caught during that period are offloaded. Hence, when a fish harvester goes back to port for a reason other than for offloading fish and leaves port again, the fishing expedition goes on until fish are offloaded.

 

To consult the list of client applications approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the Quebec region and to obtain your Elog key, visit Fisheries and Ocean’s web page at the following address: www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/elogs

 

To request a modification to data that has been transmitted to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, you must communicate with the client support service at 1-877-535-7307.

 

Incidental catches protocol

 

Any fish caught incidentally must be returned to the water and released in the exact capture location and, if the fish is still alive, with as little harm as possible.

 

Lobster fish harvesters are authorized to keep male rock crab incidental catches.

 

Simultaneous fisheries

 

Fishing lobster and flounder during a same fishing trip is not authorized.

 

Vessel

 

Fishing vessels with a length overall less than 15.24 metres (50 feet) may be used.

 

Other Management measures

 

Soaking of traps

 

In order to protect the resource and to reduce the impact on the eel grass, rules are in place with regard to the soaking of traps. DFO will keep authorizing the soaking of completed traps, from March 15 to the opening of the lobster commercial fishery, in tidal waters less than 0.91 meters (3 feet) deep only and outside any dock, fishing harbour or marina. This rule does not engage any other authority that may be concerned by the soaking of lobster traps.

 

Species at Risk Act

 

Pursuant to the Species at Risk Act, no person must kill, harm, harass, capture, take, possess, collect, buy, sell or trade an individual or any part or derivate of a wildlife species designated as extirpated, endangered or threatened.

 

At the time this Conservation Harvesting Plan is promulgated, the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence species susceptible to being captured are the following: the Spotted Wolffish, the Northern Wolffish, the Leatherback Turtle and the Striped Bass (St. Lawrence River population). New species could be added during the course of the year.

 

All incidental captures of species at risk must be immediately returned to the water where they were captured and, if the animal is still alive, in the manner that causes it the least harm. All incidental captures of species at risk must be recorded in the « Species at Risk » section of the logbook. Furthermore, all interactions with species at risk, notably the North Atlantic Right Whale, the Blue Whale (Atlantic population), the Beluga Whale (St. Lawrence Estuary population) and the White Shark (Atlantic population), must be recorded in this section of the logbook.

 

These requirements are additional to any obligation to declare an interaction with a marine mammal using the prescribed form (see section Marine mammal interaction reporting).

 

Conditions of licence

 

To obtain their Conditions of licence, fish harvesters must access the National Online Licensing System. For National Online Licensing System assistance, please contact customer support by phone at 1-877-535-7307, or by email at fishing-peche@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

 

Crew registry

 

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. Refer to the March 17th, 2021 Notice to Fish Harvesters for further details and for more information contact 1-877-535-7307 or fishing-peche@dfo-mpo.gc.

 

Approved by

 

Maryse Lemire

 

Fisheries Management Regional Director

 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

 

Quebec

 

For any questions regarding this CHP

 

You may call at 418-986-2095.

 

For additional information

 

Please visit our website at the following address: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/index-eng.htm.