2022 Criteria for access to Crab Fishing Area 12 by Areas 12E and 12F fish harvesters in case of closures of the fishing grounds

Moncton and Quebec – April 25, 2022

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announces the criteria for access to Crab Fishing areas (CFA) 12 (12, 18, 25, 26) by fish harvesters from CFAs 12E and 12F in case of closures for their fishing grounds resulting from the North Atlantic right whale protection measures.  This decision comes after the review of proposals received from fleet representatives of CFAs 12E and 12F.

Considering that fishing effort is restricted to a few grids in CFAs 12E and 12F, fish harvesters in these zones will have access to CFA 12 during temporary or seasonal closures, when the following criteria are met:

Criteria 1: The number of grids affected by the closure

CFA 12F: when 2 of the following 3 grids are closed: GZ56, HA57 and GY55
CFA 12E: when 1 of the following 3 grids are closed: GX53, GX52 and GX51

Criteria 2: The captured percentage of the allocation

CFA 12F: when less than 90% of the total CFA 12F allocation has been captured
CFA 12E: when less than 100% of the total CFA 12E allocation has been captured

Note if the above criteria are met, fish harvesters wishing to access CFA 12, will need to obtain new licence conditions. In the case of a reopening of the fishing grounds (grids identified in criteria 1), fish harvesters must move all of their traps set in CFA 12 back to their respective area within 48 hours of the announcement of the reopening, subject to weather conditions.

There will be no required changes to rope marking and tags when accessing CFA 12.