Atlantic Mackerel – NAFO Subareas 3 and 4

Dates of season (subject to change)

June to November

Total Allowable Catches

TAC of 10,000 tonnes for 2017.

Sharing Arrangements (if applicable)

The Department will hold a conference call with the Atlantic Mackerel Advisory Committee on August 24, 2017 to discuss sharing arrangements for the 2017 season.

Management Measures

A Canadian total allowable catch of 10,000 tonnes for 2017.

A temporary freeze on the issuance of new commercial mackerel licences for fixed and mobile gear effective July 27, 2017. This includes the addition of new gear types to existing commercial licences.

DFO has implemented tools to improve monitoring of landings in the commercial mackerel fishery.

Minimum fish size for commercial mackerel retention remains at 263mm.

Single or Multi-year Planning

This decision is for this year (2017) only.

Additional Information

The Department undertook a new stock assessment for Atlantic mackerel in the spring of 2017 and presented the results to the 2017 Atlantic Mackerel Advisory Committee. While the science assessment has shown some signs of slight improvement in the stock, the stock assessment indicates that the stock remains in the critical zone under DFO’s Precautionary Approach framework.

Links to other information

• ATLANTIC MACKEREL - Effective 2007 (no longer online)