Notices to Fish Harvesters

Sept-Iles – March 28, 2024

Fisheries and Oceans Canada – Quebec Region announces the opening of the snow crab fishing season in area 12C. The opening is scheduled for Friday, April 5th, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. (EDT) for the first period.

As recommended by the fleet representatives, two periods of fishing activity is in effect in Area 12C for the 2024 season. Licence holders are offered the opportunity to choose among the 2 following options:

Option 1 :

From April 5th, 2024 at 05:00 a.m. (EDT) to July 11th, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (EDT);

Option 2 :

From April 12th, 2024 at 05 :00 a.m. (EDT) to July 18th, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (EDT).

Duration of the season: In all cases, the duration of the period for carrying out fishing activities is 14 weeks.

Each licence holder is responsible for indicating which option (1 or 2) they have chosen, when requesting their Conditions of Licence in the National Online Licensing System (NOLS).

Partnership Agreements: 

Zones 12C, 14, 15 and 16A: Temporary licence partnering  (buddy-up agreement) is authorized between licences holders in the same group for up to five licences holders per agreement. The agreement must cover the entire fishing season of the licence holders, it will not be possible to terminate the agreement before the end of the fishing activities. Licences holders will be held jointly liable for any illegal acts committed during fishing activities.

Licence holders involved in a partnership agreement may use a maximum number of traps equivalent to the addition of the maximum authorized number for two of the licence holders involved in the partnership agreement, but may not exceed 200 standard traps.

Landings are prorated to the individual quotas of licensees that are part of a partnership agreement.

No temporary transfers will be allowed during the partnership agreement period. Any temporary quota transfers with other licences holders will need to be completed and approved prior to departure from the wharf or after terminated the partnership agreement.

Only one partnership agreement per licences holder is authorized for the fishing season. The agreement request must be submitted to DFO at least 5 business days prior to the first fishing expedition. The partnership agreement is effective for all the duration of the fishing season.

In addition, unless there are exceptional reasons, DFO will not issue replacement authorizations to fishers involved in a partnership agreement.

The other management measures are listed in the 2024 Conservation Harvesting Plan for the snow crab fishery in areas 12A, 12C, 14, 15, 16, 16A and 17, available on the DFO website at the following address: Notices to Fish Harvesters (dfo-mpo.gc.ca)

Furthermore, it should be noted that during the period during which fishing is authorized, it is the captain's responsibility to read the notices issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada and Transport Canada related to marine safety, as well as safety standards and good practices, and take all the necessary steps to ensure safe fishing.

Licence Conditions

In order to obtain the Conditions of License, anglers must access the National Permit System online. For assistance with the National Online Licensing System, please contact customer support by phone at 1-877-535-7307 or by email at fishing-peche@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

For additional information

Please visit our website at the following address: Quebec Region | Fisheries and Oceans Canada (dfo-mpo.gc.ca)

Yolaine Croussette

Ressource Management

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

North Shore area: 1-800-463-1729

Note: In case of discrepancies between the English and the French versions, the latter prevail.