Notices to Fish Harvesters

 

CAPELIN – AREAS 15 AND 16 – QUEBEC FLEET

Season 2023

 

Approved March 24, 2023

1. Application

This Conservation Harvesting Plan (CHP) is applicable to capelin licence holders  in areas 15 and 16 of Quebec region.

2. Fishing Areas

The authorized fishing areas are capelin fishing areas 15 and 16.

 

The fishing areas coordinates are indicated on the fishing areas maps, which are available at the following address:

Commercial Fisheries 

3. Fishing closures

3.1 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: Coral and Sponge Conservation Measures in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.

1. 3.2 Banc-des-Américains Marine Protected Area

On March 6, 2019, Fisheries and Oceans Canada created, jointly with the Quebec government, the Banc-des-Américains Marine Protected Area (MPA) in order to the ensure the conservation and protection of this marine ecosystem.

Provisions of the Banc-des-Américains Marine Protected Area Regulations apply to licence holders. In order to comply with them, please refer to the clauses that apply to your fishing activities: Banc-des-Américains Marine Protected Area Regulations.

4. Fishing seasons

The fishing seasons opening and closing dates will be confirmed through Notices to Fish Harvesters or Variation Orders. Opening dates may vary according to particular circumstances such as industry requests and the TAC announcement while closing dates may be advanced according to factors such as the reach of quotas or when risks of exceeding them are high.

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.

5. Quotas

The total allowable catches (TAC) for the commercial capelin fishery in divisions 4RST for the 2023 season will be announced through a Notice to Fish Harvesters. Of this TAC, 13.88% will be allocated to capelin areas 15 and 16 (divisions 4ST), available to all capelin licence holders with access to these areas.

Starting in 2023, a 25 tons interim allocation from the TAC for the commercial capelin fishery in divisions 4RST will be set aside to allow an early opening of the small weir fishery in the Saint-Lawrence estuary in subdivision 4Tp, dependent on the sustainability of the stock.

6. Management Regime

Capelin fishery in areas 15 and 16 is competitive with no allocation sharing between the fleets.

7. Fishing Gear

Specifically indicated on licences, the following fishing gears are authorized:

• Mobile gear: purse seine and beach seine;
• Fixed gear: trap and trapnet (weir).

8. 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 marine mammal including 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:

1. 8.1 Amount of Rope Floating on the Surface of the Water

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 6.4 metres (3.5 fathoms) of rope shall be used when attaching  secondary buoys to a primary buoy.
• At the exception of the rope attaching secondary buoys, no rope shall remain floating on the surface of the water.

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.

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2. 8.2 Requirement to report lost and retrieved gear

Lost gear reporting

Lost fishing gear is defined as any active fishing gear previously set by the licence holder and fishing vessel operator which was sought but not found.

 

The licence holder or fishing vessel operator must report any of their lost fishing gear within 24 hours of returning to port at the end of the fishing trip. Reports of lost gear must be submitted to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) through the FISHING GEAR Reporting system available online at Sign in or by completing the Lost fishing gear form available online at Reporting requirements for commercial fisheries  or in Annex of Conditions of licence, according to instructions on the form.

 

 

Retrieved gear reporting

The licence holder or fishing vessel operator must report the retrieval of any of their own previously reported lost gear within 24 hours of returning to port at the end of the fishing trip. Reports of retrieved gear must be submitted to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) through the Fishing gear reporting system available online at Sign in or by completing the Retrieval of previously reported lost fishing gear form available online at Reporting requirements for commercial fisheries or in Annex of Conditions of licence, according to instructions on the form. 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 Conditions of licence.

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2. 8.3 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, you can also 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, behaviour of the individual, details on the weather and the state of the sea, etc.).

9. Marine mammal interaction reporting

Licence holders must 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:  Report a marine mammal or sea turtle incident or sighting

The information provided on this form will be used by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) 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.

10. Dockside Monitoring

No further action is required concerning dockside monitoring in the capelin fishery in areas 15 and 16.

However, prior to the start of a fishing trip, area 15 licence holders using a purse seine or a trap must have a hail-in agreement with a dockside monitoring company legally designated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Information regarding the fishing trip and catch must be provided prior to the arrival at port.

11. Combined form

Licence holders must obtain their Combined Forms booklet from a prequalified supplier identified by Fisheries and Oceans Canada., which are listed at: Prequalified Logbook Suppliers. For capelin trapnet (weir) licence holders, the form is attached to the Conditions of licences.

The Logbook section must be completed before arriving to port for each fishing trip. The completed form must be returned to the Dockside Monitoring Company or DFO within the time frames specified in the Conditions of licence.

12. Vessel Monitoring System

Vessels used to fish for capelin using a purse seine must be equipped with an active Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The use of a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) approved by DFO is mandatory. Each licence holder must register his DFO-approved VMS unit prior to the beginning of his fishing activities. Data transmission every 30 minutes is required.

The current list of DFO-approved VMS units and the procedure and form to register a VMS unit are available at the following address: http://dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/vessel-monitoring-surveillance-navire/index-eng.html

13. Species At Risk Act

Pursuant to the Species at Risk Act, no person shall 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, the Striped Bass (St. Lawrence River population) and exceptionally the White Shark (Atlantic 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).

14. Crew registry

Since April 1st, 2021, inshore commercial licence holders, and their approved Substitute Operators, must 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. This requirement does not apply to pre-1979 corporation licence and to any licence issued under the authority of the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations. For further details, refer to the March 17th, 2021 Notice to Fish Harvesters at Notice detail - Online Publications Tool or contact the Licensing Office at 1-877-535-7307 or fishing-peche@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

15. Discharge of waste

Since 2022, all commercial fisheries in Canada have a new condition of licence relating to the discharge of garbage from Canadian fishing vessels. The licence holder is prohibited from discarding in Canadian fisheries waters from their vessel any item that may be harmful to fish or fish habitat . Please refer to the following New condition of licence relating to discharge of garbage season 2022 (2022-03-29)

16. 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.

 

Approved by:

Maryse Lemire

Fisheries Management Regional Director

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Quebec

 

For additional information

Please visit our website at the following address: Fisheries.