Notice of interest and fishing plan: Unit 1 Redfish reserve allocation (2024-25 season)

Preamble

As announced on May 31, 2024, 5,000 tonnes (t) from the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Unit 1 Redfish for the 2024-25 management period (May 15, 2024 to May 14, 2025) has been set aside and held in reserve. This reserve allocation can be accessed by application. Applications will be distributed into three tranches of application and assessed on a case-by-case basis.

• Tranche 1: 2,000 t for fishing June 15 to August 31, 2024
• Tranche 2: 2,000 t for fishing September 1 to December 31, 2024
• Tranche 3: 1,000 t for fishing January 1 to March 31, 2025.

Interested proponents who wish to apply for a reserve allocation in Tranche 3 must complete an application form which can be found further below. There is no deadline for applications, which will be assessed and awarded on a first come first serve basis. Any unused allocation from Tranche 2 will be made available in Tranche 3, including unused bycatch allocations. We will respond to Tranche 3 applications starting December 30.

For Tranche 3, successful applicants will be allocated a maximum of 300 t each, until the total allocation for the reserve is reached (to be determined based on the unused allocations from Tranche 2). Allocations will be provided on a first come first serve basis.

Those who fished a minimum of 25% of their allocation in Tranche 1 or 2 will be given priority for allocation in Tranche 3. Any unused allocations from Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 that were paid for but not fully fished will be available for fishing in Tranche 3 upon requesting the conditions of the licence. Once the reserve has been fully allocated, there would be no additional allocation.

Receiving an allocation from this reserve does not provide priority access or priority consideration in any future access or allocation decisions related to the Unit 1 redfish fishery.

Reserve allocations will be available to harvesters upon receipt of valid Conditions of licence. Carry Forward of individual unused reserve allocations from 2024-25 to the following management period will not be permitted.

Objectives

The reserve allocation will be allocated with the following objectives:

1. Provide allocation to licence holders who are ready to fish during the 2024-25 season and can demonstrate as such;
2. Provide allocation to licence holders to undertake planned projects for the Redfish fishery (for example, projects related to electronic monitoring, improving gear selectivity, or those supported by the Atlantic Fisheries Fund (AFF) or Quebec Fisheries Fund (QFF)
3. Provide allocation to licence holders who participated in the index and/or experimental fishery to continue to fish.

Eligibility criteria

1. Proponents must be existing mobile gear groundfish licence holders with access to Unit 1 (NAFO divisions 4RST and/or subdivisions 3Pn,4Vn January-May).
2. Applications must be submitted from a proponent, regardless of the company/partnership configurations, that is majority owned (51%) by Canadian citizens.
3. Applications must be sufficiently detailed and demonstrate how they will meet at least 1 of the objectives defined above, and clearly specify their plans to fish in the current allocation round.

Management measures

Management measures for the reserve allocation will be consistent with those in effect for the fleet sector to which the allocation beneficiary belongs, expressed in individual licence holders’ Condition of Licence and Conservation Harvesting Plan (CHP), including (but not limited to) any new measures announced on May 31, 2024:

• Seasonal and area closures;
• Depth and gear restrictions;
• ASO coverage requirements respective to the participants fleet sector;
• Mandatory VMS on all vessels;
• Small fish and bycatch protocol (i.e. Procedures for Monitoring and Control of Small Fish Catches and Incidental Catches in Atlantic Groundfish Fisheries);
• Mandatory dockside monitoring at 100% of the landings;
• Bycatch limits and caps will apply (see table below).
• By-catches of species subject to quota management will be counted against individual quotas or fleet quotas.
• Bycatch measures for all other species including species at risk will be consistent with existing measures.

Bycatches of certain moratorium stocks will be counted against bycatch caps established for the reserve allocation, as announced on May 31, 2024:

Bycatch caps available for Tranche 3 will be confirmed at the end of Tranche 2, due to rollover of any unused allocation from Tranche 2. Individual allocations are not guaranteed, and once the total bycatch caps for the reserve allocation are caught, the Department will assess whether bycatch can be re-allocated and may shut down fishing for the recipients of the reserve allocation.

Application process

Fishing organization / Individual harvester responsibilities

• Prepare and submit application;
• Provide proof of contract of ASO coverage ready to be finalized once allocation awarded (Name of company, contract number);
• Please provide a detailed description of fishing plans (i.e. fishing start date, number of planned fishing trips, proof of agreements with buyer/processor, etc).
• If requested quota is to support a planned project (e.g. Quebec or Atlantic Fisheries Fund, electronic monitoring pilot project) provide details with respect to the project objectives and status.

DFO responsibilities

• Evaluation of applications;
• Issuance of reserve allocations and associated bycatch caps.

Eligible proponents will submit applications to the DFO email address, outlining how the eligibility criteria and objective(s) will be met: Elysabeth.Theberge@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Applications for Tranche 3 must be submitted to the above email address. Applicants will be assessed in the order which they are received, with the objective to allow those that are ready to start fishing as soon as possible.

Incomplete or insufficiently detailed applications will either be returned with a request for further information or screened out subject to submission deadline constraints.

Once allocations are approved, licences will be issued by the relevant DFO regional offices.

Application form: Redfish reserve allocation - Unit 1

Alternative format for preview only

Send completed applications to: Elysabeth.Theberge@dfo-mpo.gc.ca