Notices to Fish Harvesters

 

MACKEREL - AREAS 15 AND 16 – GULF OF ST-LAWRENCE

2024 SEASON

Subject: Opening of the second portion of the Atlantic mackerel bait fishery for the 2024 season

Québec – July 26, 2024

 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) will release the remaining 235 tonnes portion of the total allowable catch (TAC) in all Mackerel Fishing Areas on Thursday, August 15, 2024. Please be advised the Atlantic mackerel bait fishery is a competitive fishery and is intended for personal-use only.

Eligible fish harvesters participating in this fishery will be restricted to a daily limit of 454 kg (1,000 lbs) to be fished by either gillnet or handline. Monitoring will be achieved using various measures, including a 100% hail-in requirement in all regions. For additional information please refer to your Conditions of licence.  

The 2024 Atlantic mackerel bait fishery will also provide harvesters the opportunity to collect length frequencies on a voluntary basis. For those interested in participating please see the following link for more information: Call for interest: Voluntary length frequency reporting (google.com) 

The management measures that will be in place for the second portion of this bait fishery are listed below.

 

MANAGEMENT MEASURES :

Authorized fishing gear

A maximum of 3 gillnets of a maximum total length of 50 fathoms with a minimum mesh size of 69.85 mm and maximum mesh size of 73.025 mm OR a maximum of 6 handlines and 36 hooks total.

Maximum daily limit

The maximum daily limit of mackerel that fish harvesters can catch and retain is 454 kg (1 000 lb) in total.

Hail-out

A mandatory hail-out is required for all fish harvesters participating in the mackerel bait fishery.

Hail-in

A mandatory hail-in is required for all fish harvesters participating in the mackerel bait fishery. An accurate catch estimate must be provided before entering port.

Electronic logbook / logbook

For the electronic logbook (Elog), fish harvesters must use a client application approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and must have obtained and installed their Elog Key in their client application in order to allow data transmission to the Department.

For the paper logbook, licence holders must obtain their booklet from a prequalified supplier identified by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which are listed at: https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/nir-nei/log-suppliers-eng.html

*Note for area 16 : As indicated in the Notice to fish harvesters of May 17, 2024, Elog is going back to being mandatory in area 16 for the second portion of the mackerel bait fishery.

 

Fishing restrictions

It is strictly forbidden to sell, trade or barter any fish caught under the authority of a bait licence.

 

Other measures

For other management measures, please refer to the Conditions of licence. Eligible licence holders who wish to participate in this fishery can obtain their Conditions of licence through the National Online Licensing System.

 

For additional information :

Please visit our website at the following address: https://inter-l01-uat.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/infoceans/

 

Mathieu Pellerin

Resource management

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Quebec region

418-572-9957

Mathieu.Pellerin@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

 

Magdalen Islands area: 418-986-2095

North Shore area 1-800-463-1729

Gaspe- Lower North Shore area: 1-877-898-5559