Science Advisory Report 2008/022
Assessment of the rock crab (Cancer irroratus) fishery in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence Lobster Fishing Areas (LFA’s) 23, 24, 25, 26A & 26B for 2000 to 2006
Summary
- Rock crab landings from the directed fishery varied between 3,699 and 4,727 t from 2000 to 2006. In all LFAs, the lowest catches were recorded in 2003.
- In 2006, most (70%) of the landings came from LFAs 25 and 26A. Fishing effort was concentrated in the Northumberland Strait and the Miramichi Bay area.
- The directed fishery performance in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (sGSL) was relatively stable between 2000 and 2006, but landings and catch rates can be influenced by a number of factors (effort, catchability, market demands, etc.) other than abundance.
- For 2000 to 2006, the percentage of harvesters reaching their individual allocation in LFAs 23, 25, and 26A varied between 23% and 81%. In LFA 26B, no individual allocation has ever been reached whereas there are no individual allocations in LFA 24.
- The potential for an increase in fishing effort on the rock crab resource exists in the by-catch fishery, the bait fishery, and from the latent potential in the directed fishery. An increase in the fishing effort is not recommended, as the consequences to the resource are unknown.
- Concerns to the resource due to removals of undersized crabs in the by-catch and bait fisheries could be reduced by the introduction of a minimum legal size limit as in the directed fishery.
Accessibility Notice
This document is available in PDF format. If the document is not accessible to you, please contact the Secretariat to obtain another appropriate format, such as regular print, large print, Braille or audio version.
- Date modified: