Notices to Fish Harvesters

Sept-Îles – March 29, 2024

Fisheries and Oceans Canada – Quebec Region announces the opening of the snow crab fishing season in area 16. The opening is scheduled for Friday, April 5th, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. (EDT) as recommended by the fleet representatives. Postponement of the opening date will not be allowed.  The fishery will close on Thusdayy, July 11th, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (EDT).

Partnership Agreements: 

Zone 16: Temporary licence partnering  (buddy-up agreement) is authorized between licences holders in the same group for up to two 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 are authorized to use a maximum number of traps equal to the sum of the number of traps initially authorized by the two parties involved in the partnership agreement, without exceeding 200 standard traps for Group A or 70 standard traps for Group B.

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.