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Appendix I: Overview of the main fishing fleets in Canada

Notes for all tables:

1. This overview is presented for five of the six DFO administrative regions. It was not possible to present an overview for DFO's Pacific Region at the time of printing of this report due to an absence of data. The diagram below presents the division of Canada in DFO administrative regions.

2. A "fisher" is defined here as a holder of one or more fishing licences.

3. The category "Shrimp" includes the two species commercially harvested in Atlantic Canada, which are Pandalus Borealis and Pandalus Montagui, the former comprising 90% of all shrimp landings.

4. Totals may be lower than those from tables presented in the text as only main fleets are shown here.

Figure 5.1: DFO administrative regions

Source: DFO.

Table 5.1: Overview of major fleets, commercial marine fisheries, DFO Maritimes Region (Southern New Brunswick and Nova Scotia except Northumberland Strait)
Fishing Fleet Fishing method Management method Vessel Length Number of fishers Main (directed) Species Landed Value (2004) $M
Multispecies, Non-Vessel Rakes, Tongs Competitive Non-Vessel 436 Clams $4M
Multispecies Inshore Drag, Trawl, Traps, Gillnet, Longline, Seine Competitive, Trap Limits,IQ < 65' 3,174 Lobster, Groundfish,Snow crab, Scallop,Swordfish, Herring, Sea Urchins, Shrimp, Tuna, Mackerel $508M
Groundfish Midshore Trawl, Gillnet Competitive, IQ 65' - 100' 4 Groundfish $3M
Multispecies Offshore Drag, Trawl, Traps IQ,Trap Limits > 100' 13 Scallop, Shrimp, Clams, Herring, Lobster,Groundfish $128M
Aboriginals Drag, Trawl, Traps, Gillnet, Longline, Seine Competitive, Trap Limits,IQ All 17 Snow crab, Lobster,Groundfish, Scallop,Shrimp, Sea Urchins $29M
Total       3,644   $672M

Source: DFO, Maritimes Region, Statistics and Licensing Units.

Table 5.2: Overview of major fleets, commercial marine fisheries, DFO Gulf Region (Eastern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia's Northumberland Strait)
Fishing Fleet Fishing method Management method Vessel Length Number of fishers Main (directed) Species Landed Value (2004) $M
Traditional Crab fishers n/a IQ 45' - 100' 340 Snow crab $109M
Traditional Shrimp fishers n/a IQ Tous 20 Shrimp $7M
Herring Seiners n/a IQ > 65' 6 Herring $2M
Lobster / Multi-species n/a Trap number limits (75-375) < 45' 3,175 Lobster (Directed), Herring, Tuna, Snow crab, Groundfish $209M, inc. $173M Lobster and $21M Snow crab
Groundfish n/a IQ, Competitive < 65' 35 Groundfish (Directed), Shrimp, Snow crab $6M, inc. $4M Snow crab, $1M Shrimp and $1M Groundfish
Aboriginals n/a IQ 45' - 100' 10 Snow crab $16M
Trap number limits (75-375) n/a < 45' 200 Lobster $6M
Total       3,786   $355M

Source: DFO, Gulf Region, Statistics and Licensing Units.

Table 5.3: Overview of major fleets, commercial marine fisheries, DFO Quebec Region (Quebec)
Fishing Fleet Fishing method Management method Vessel Length Number of fishers1 Main (directed) Species Landed Value (2004) $M
Crab fishers Traps IQ < 100 ' 161 Snow crab $69M
Lobster fishers Traps Trap number limits < 65' 575 Lobster $44M
Shrimp fishers Trawl IQ < 100 ' 35 Shrimp $16M
Inshore Groundfish / Multispecies Gillnets,Trawl, Traps IQ, Competitive < 45' 273 Atlantic Cod, Greenland Halibut, Atlantic Halibut,Temporary Snow crab and Shrimp allocations $17M
Midshore Groundfish / Multispecies Longline, Gillnets,Trawl, Traps IQ, Competitive > 45 ' 85 Atlantic Cod, Greenland Halibut, Atlantic Halibut, Temporary Snow crab and Shrimp allocations $11M
Aboriginals Gillnets, Trawl, Traps IQ, Competitive < 100 ' 12 Groundfish, Lobster, Shrimp and Snow crab $19M
Total       1,141   $176M

1Number of active Quebec fishers in 2004 (an "active" fisher is a fisher that reported at least one landing in a given year). Source: DFO, Quebec Region, Statistics and Licensing Units.

Table 5.4: Overview of major fleets, commercial marine fisheries, DFO Newfoundland and Labrador Region (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Fishing Fleet Fishing method Management method Vessel Length Number of fishers Main (directed) Species Landed Value (2004) $M
Inshore Pots, Gillnets IQ, Competitive < 35' 2,827 Snow crab, Lobster, Atlantic Cod, Roe (lumpfish), Capelin $110M, inc. $60M Snow crab and $18M Lobster
Nearshore Pots, Otter trawl, Gillnets, Purse seine, Rifle, Hakapik IQ, Competitive 35' - 64'11" 1,125 Snow crab, Shrimp, Seal, Mackerel, Greenland halibut $319M, inc. $217M Snow crab and $60M Shrimp
Midshore Pots, Purse seine, Gillnets IQ, Competitive 65' - 99'11" 7 Snow crab, Mackerel, Greenland halibut, Herring, Capelin $6M, inc. $1M Snow crab
Offshore Otter Trawl, Pots IQ, Competitive 100' + 11 Shrimp, Stimpson’s surf clam, Yellowtail flounder, Snow crab, Atlantic Cod $111M, inc. $60M Shrimp, $10M Stimpson’s surf clam and $10M Yellowtail flounder
Total       3,970   $546M

Source: DFO, Newfoundland and Labrador Region, Statistics and Licensing Units.

Table 5.5: Overview of major fleets, commercial marine and freshwater fisheries, DFO Central & Arctic Region (Freshwater fisheries and Canadian Arctic)
Fishing Fleet Fishing method Management method Vessel Length Number of fishers Main (directed) Species Landed Value (2004) $M
Groundfish, North Atlantic (NAFO Sub-Area 0) Trawl, Longline (under ice), Gillnets IQ > 65’ 8 Greenland Halibut n/a
Shrimp, North Atlantic (NAFO Sub-Area 0) Trawl IQ > 65’ 12 Shrimp n/a
Freshwater Fisheries (MB, SK, AB, NWT and Northwestern Ontario) Gillnets Competitive n/a 2,834 Whitefish, Pickerel, Pike, other n/a
Aboriginals Gillnets Competitive n/a 339 Arctic Char n/a
Total       3,193    

Source: DFO, Central & Arctic Region, Statistics and Licensing Units.

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