Avis aux pêcheurs

Moncton, Quebec, St. John’s and Halifax – June 2, 2025 – The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) today announced a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the Atlantic halibut fishery in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Divisions 4RST for the 2025-2026 season.
A TAC of 3,083 tonnes (t) is established for a one year period from May 15, 2025, until May 14, 2026. As part of this TAC, a 95 t allocation has been set aside under section 10 of the Fisheries Act to support the industry/DFO longline survey and tagging project.
The remaining allocation available for fishing is 2,988 t and will be distributed in accordance with the sharing formula established.
To address Atlantic halibut bycatch needs in the Unit 1 commercial redfish fishery and other mobile gear fisheries in NAFO Divisions 4RST, the Department will apply the same model used in 2024–2025 to calculate the temporary quota transfer. As a result, the mobile gear fleets are allocated 248.125 t, while an allocation of 554.366 t will be transferred to the inshore fixed gear fleet. Additionally, 230 t of unused bycatch quota from the mobile gear fleets in 2024–2025 will be carried over to the inshore fixed gear fleet for use in 2025–2026. Both allocations are divided equally among the eight geographical inshore fixed gear fleets, resulting in 98.046 t per fleet.
The initial allocations by fleet for 2025-2026, including the temporary transfer of quotas and the carry-over of bycatch quotas not used by mobile gear fleets in 2024-2025 to the inshore fixed gear fleets, before application of quota reconciliation, where applicable, are as follows :

In taking this decision, the Minister took into account the best available science and considerations around maximizing the economic opportunities in this fishery by introducing the carry-forward flexibility for the 2025-2026 season. As such, this decision continues to meet the objective of long-term sustainability of the resource, while balancing fishing opportunities to various fleets in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, including ensuring that bycatch quota not required by the mobile gear fleet in other fisheries is made available in the directed fishery.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Julien Cormier
Senior Regional Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Moncton, NB
506-377-5563

Nancy Pond
Senior Regional Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
St. John’s, NL
709-725-6912

Steve Trottier
Senior Regional Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Québec, QC
418-928-8637

Jennifer Saunders
Senior Regional Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Dartmouth, NS
902-240-7529