2022 - Lobster fishery opening date for Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 25

Moncton, NB – July 6, 2022 – Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Gulf Region, announces the 2022 management measures for Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 25. Unless indicated otherwise, existing management measures remain in place.  Please refer to your lobster licence conditions for further details. Licence conditions should be available on the National Online Licensing System in the next few days.

Opening date

The opening date in LFA 25 is on August 9 at 6:00 a.m.. The last day of fishing is October 10. The opening of the fishery is subject to weather conditions. If there is a delay, the season will lengthened one day for one day at the end of the season, up to maximum of 4 days.

New management measures for the 2022 fishing season

Carapace size

The minimum lobster carapace size will increase to 79 mm in LFA 25 starting in 2022.

Curfew

The daily close time is from 9:00 pm to 4:00 am, including the first 48 hours of the fishery. There is no curfew during the last 48 hours of the fishery.

Fishing Gear Reporting System (or Lost Gear Reporting)

A new online system was launched in July 2021 to allow commercial harvesters to conveniently input lost and retrieved gear information from any smart electronic device. The system is able to capture information such as descriptions, cause of loss and location of the lost gear. Harvesters can create their account and begin reporting through the system: Fishing gear reporting system

Discarding Waste

In 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/operator is prohibited from discarding in Canadian fisheries waters from their vessel any time that may be harmful to fish or fish habitat.  Refer to the Notice to Fish Harvesters sent on April 7, 2022 for further details.

Existing management measures for the 2022 fishing season

Management measures to minimize interactions with North Atlantic Right Whales

The Management measures to minimize interactions with North Atlantic Right Whales (NARW):

2022 fishery management measures

Restrictions on the movement of lobster licences

For information on restriction on the movement of lobster licences you can refer to the Commercial Fisheries Licensing Policy for Gulf Region.

Transit Corridors

The transit corridors in LFA 23 and LFA 24 remain in effect and a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) is required (every 5 minutes) if using the transit corridor.  The corridor allows fish harvesters to transport their catches through that area to reach their homeport avoiding the use of the smack boat. The opening and closing of the season will remain as indicated in the Fisheries Regulations or as announced in a Variation Order. The coordinates for the corridor are identified in the Variation Order and the licence conditions of those using the corridor.

Logbook

Licence holders that will not be using an ELOG are still required to use paper logbooks and submit them to DFO on a monthly basis as in previous years.

List of paper logbook suppliers

Notes:
¹See table 2 for height of escape mechanism corresponding to the minimum carapace size in effect.
²PEI harvesters are eligible to acquire an additional 10 traps from the Prince County Fishermen Association

Height and Length of Escape Mechanisms

The height of the escape mechanism as indicated in Tables 2 and 3 needs to be adjusted according to the minimum legal carapace size in effect in each LFA (refer to Table 1 for minimum legal size).

Before you go fishing

The Department has assembled a list of requirements and documents harvesters will need before they start fishing.

For more information