2020 Snow Crab Fishery, Newfoundland and Labrador (Areas 2HJ, 3KLNO, 3Ps, and 4R3Pn)
Dates of season (subject to change)
The Snow crab fishery will not open before May 1, 2020. Once decisions are made on specific opening dates they will be communicated via Notice to Harvesters.
Total allowable catches (TACs)
The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Newfoundland and Labrador Region in 2020 is 29,551 tonnes, an overall quota level increase of 10% from 2019. This includes status quo in 2H, a 15% decrease in 2J, a 10% increase in 3K, a 11% increase in 3LNO (9% in the areas outside the 200 mile limit, and 14% in areas inside the 200 mile limit), a 24% increase in the 3Ps quota, a 15% reduction in 4R3Pn, and includes the quota for the Collaborative Post-Season Trap Survey (Use of Fish).
The following table contains two columns. The first column lists the area. The second column lists the quota in tonnes. The last row identifies the total allowable catch.
| AREA | Quota (t)* |
|---|---|
| 2GHJ | 1,600 |
| 3K | 6,412 |
| 3LNO | 17,587 |
| 3Ps | 3,292 |
| 4R3Pn | 260 |
| CPS Trap Survey | 400 |
| TOTAL | 29,551 |
The following table contains five columns. The first column lists the Crab Fishing Area. The second column lists the area description. The third column lists the inshore quota(s). The fourth column lists the fulltime - large supplementary quotas. The fifth column lists the communal quota.
DIVISION 2HJ 2020 QUOTAS (t) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Description | Inshore | Fulltime & Supplementary | Communal |
| 2GH | North of 56o 00’ N | - | - | 100 |
| 2J north | North of 54o 40’ N to 56o 00’ N | - | - | 264 |
| 2J south | South of 54o 40’ N | 247 | 990 | - |
The 2HJ TAC is 1,600 tonnes.
The following table contains four columns. The first column lists the Crab Fishing Area. The second column lists the area description. The third column lists the inshore quota(s). The fourth column lists the fulltime - large supplementary quotas.
DIVISION 3K 2020 QUOTAS (t) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Description | Inshore | Fulltime & Supplementary |
| 3A | Canada Bay | 292 | - |
| 3B | White Bay | 332 | - |
| 3C | Green Bay | 447 | - |
| 3BC | Inshore 3K | 183 | - |
| 3D | Fogo/Twillingate | 847 | - |
| 4 | Offshore | 19 | 4,293 |
The 3K TAC is 6,412 tonnes.
The following table contains six columns. The first column lists the Crab Fishing Area. The second column lists the area description. The third column lists the inshore quota(s). The fourth column lists the small supplementary or commercial quotas. The fifth column lists the fulltime - large supplementary quotas. The sixth column lists the greater than 65 foot quotas.
DIVISIONS 3LNO 2020 QUOTAS (t) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Description | Inshore | Small Supplementary |
Fulltime & Supplementary | > 65' |
| 5A | Bonavista Bay | 685 | - | - | - |
| 6A | Trinity Bay | 947 | - | - | - |
| 6B | Conception Bay | 446 | - | - | - |
| 6C | Eastern Avalon (inside 25) | 380 | - | - | - |
| 8A | Southern Shore (inside 25) | 309 | - | - | - |
| 9A | St. Mary’s Bay | 200 | - | - | - |
| 8B | Southern Avalon (offshore) | - | 484 | - | - |
| 8Bx | Southern Avalon | - | 68 | - | - |
| 8Bx North | Northern portion of Southern Avalon | - | 212 | - | - |
| 8Bx South | Southern portion of Southern Avalon | - | 293 | - | - |
| NS | Nearshore | - | 2,818 | - | - |
| MS | Midshore | - | 3,097 | 1,285 | - |
| MS/EX | Mid-shore extended | - | - | 2,956 | - |
| 3L EX | Between 170 and 200 miles | - | - | 2,069 | - |
| 3L 200 | 3L Outside 200 miles | - | - | 662 | - |
| 3N 200 | 3N Outside 200 miles | - | - | 496 | - |
| 3NO 200 | 3NO Outside 200 miles | - | - | - | 181 |
The 3LNO TAC is 17,587 tonnes.
The following table contains four columns. The first column lists the Crab Fishing Area. The second column lists the area description. The third column lists the inshore quota(s). The fourth column lists the small supplementary quota(s).
SUB-DIVISION 3Ps 2020 QUOTAS (t) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Description | Inshore | Small Supplementary |
| 10A | Placentia Bay north of 46o30’N | 1,260 | - |
| 10B | Placentia Bay south of 46o30’N | - | 1,684 |
| 11S | CFA 11 south of 46o30’N | 113 | 124 |
| 11E | CFA 11 east of Western Head | 79 | - |
| 11W | CFA 11 west of Western Head | 33 | - |
The 3Ps TAC is 3,292 tonnes.
The following table contains four columns. The first column lists the Crab Fishing Area. The second column lists the area description. The third column lists the inshore quota(s). The fourth column lists the commercial quotas.
DIVISION 4R3Pn 2020 QUOTAS (t) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Description | Inshore | Commercial |
| 12 | Outside of 8 mile - Group 1 | - | 8 |
| 12 | Outside of 8 mile - Group 2 | - | 58 |
| 12 | Outside of 8 mile - Group 3 | - | 14 |
| 12 | Bay of Islands | - | 25 |
| 12 | Bay St. George | - | 10 |
| 12A | Lapoile Bay | 2 | - |
| 12B | Cape Ray to Johnson’s Cove | 4 | - |
| 12C | Johnson’s Cove to Cape St. George | 66 | - |
| 12D | Cape St. George to Bear Head | 19 | - |
| 12E | Bear Head to Cape St. Gregory | 21 | - |
| 12F | Inner Bay of Islands | 21 | - |
| 12G | Cape St. Gregory to Broom Point | CLOSED | - |
| 12H | Broom Point to Table Point | 12 | - |
The 4R3Pn TAC is 260 tonnes.
The Collaborative Post-Season Trap Survey (Use of Fish) TAC is 400 tonnes.
The overall TAC is 29,551 tonnes.
Management measures
The proposed management approach for 2020 includes 6.4m limit of floating rope on the water, the soft-shell protocol, a closure of area 12G for a 2-year period, decreasing quota levels in Divisions 2J and 4R3Pn, status quo in 2H and increasing quotas in Divisions 3K, 3LNO and Subdivision 3Ps.
Areas 3N outside 200 miles, 11E, 11W, 12A, 12B, 12D and 12H will operate under a harvesting cap management regime. In addition, grid based soft-shell protocols are continued in all areas. Areas closed as a result of soft-shell Crab will remain closed for the remainder of the year. Grids closed for soft-shell crab in Shrimp Fishing Areas 4, 5 or 6 will also be closed to Shrimp harvesting for 60 days. All season closure dates are subject to modification if there is a high incidence of soft-shell Crab encountered in the fishery. An individual quota (IQ) does not guarantee that all Crab will be landed.
Division 2HJ
- The overall quota of Snow crab in 2H will remain unchanged while the overall quota in 2J will be decreased by 15% in 2020.
Division 3K
The overall quota of Snow crab in 3K will increase by 10% in 2020 to 6,412 tonnes from 5,826 tonnes in 2019.
- Harvest levels in 3A will remain unchanged in 2020.
- The harvest levels for other areas in 3K will be increased by 10% in 2020.
Division 3LNO
The overall quota of Snow crab in 3LNO will be increased by 11% in 2020 to 17,587 tonnes from 15,818 tonnes in 2019.
- Harvest levels in 8A, 9A, Nearshore, 3N 200 and 3NO 200 will remain unchanged in 2020
- Harvest levels in areas 8Bx, 8Bx north and 8Bx south will be increased by 50% in 2020.
- Harvest levels in areas 8B, Midshore and 3L 200 will be increased by 20% in 2020.
- Harvest levels in areas 5A, Midshore extended and 3L extended will be increased by 15% in 2020.
- Harvest levels in areas 6A will be increased by 10% in 2020.
- Harvest levels in area 6B will decrease by 15% in 2020.
- Harvest levels in area 6C will be decreased by 20% in 2020.
Subdivision 3Ps
The overall quota for Snow crab in Sub- division 3Ps will be increased by 24% in 2020.
- Harvest levels in areas 10A, 10B, 11S, and 11W will be increased by 25% in 2020.
- Harvest levels for area 11E will remain unchanged in 2020.
Division 4R and Subdivision 3Pn
The overall quota for Snow crab in division 4R and sub-division 3Pn will be decreased by 15% in 2020.
- Harvest levels in areas 12C, 12E, 12F, Bay of Islands and Bay St. George will be increased by 25% in 2020.
- Harvest levels in 12A, 12B, 12D and 12H will remain unchanged in 2020
- Harvest levels in Outside of 8 miles will be decreased by 25% in 2020.
- Area 12G will be closed for a 2-year period starting in 2020.
Links to other information
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