An expected increase in the 2022 total allowable catch (TAC) and strong signs of stock recruitment are good news for the Southern Gulf snow crab fishery.
It is anticipated the fishery will open in April “as soon as it is safe to do so,” said Steve Hachey, communications advisor for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
“It varies every year, depending on ice conditions, wind conditions, weather forecast, etc…”
Last year, the season opened in early April, compared to late April and early May the previous two years.
“An early start to the snow crab fishery season in these fishing areas will diminish the possibility of whale interactions with fishing gear, while also maximizing the amount of harvesting activity that can occur before the whales arrive in our waters,” said Hachey.
As in previous years, the Government of Canada has a standing offer that will enable the Canadian Coast Guard to call up commercial assistance on an as-needed basis to further support ice-breaking activities in northern New Brunswick, said Hachey.
“In addition to the existing standing offer, the Canadian Coast Guard is in the process of finalizing an additional contract for amphibious icebreaking services. Safety at sea remains the priority. The Canadian Coast Guard is preparing its resources for icebreaking, search and rescue and aids to navigation to support the snow crab fishery as soon as it is safe to do so,” he said.
“We adjust the times of fishing seasons, implement seasonal and temporary fishing area closures when and where whales are present, and are working with partners to remove harmful ghost gear from our waters,” said Hachey.
“The Government of Canada is committed to protecting North Atlantic right whales and setting them on a path to recovery. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is taking many actions to protect right whales from entanglements in fishing gear,” said Hachey.
“Canada’s dynamic measures for protecting North Atlantic right whales are world class and our ongoing and comprehensive right whale surveillance efforts, closure protocols and other measures are working. This past fall, for the second year in a row, there were no reported deaths of North Atlantic right whales in Canadian waters.”
DFO held its scientific peer review of the 2021 snow crab assessment for the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence on Jan. 25 to 27 and the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab advisory committee meeting on Feb. 17. The advice received at the advisory committee meeting, along with the best available science, will form the basis for management measures for the upcoming fishing season.
“The stock is strong and healthy. It’s been like that for a number of years and the forecast is still good,” said Amélie Rondeauit, division manager for the fisheries and ecosystem science division southern Gulf.
“There’s probably a good chance the quota for this year is going to be higher than last year because last year we took some precautionary measures and applied a 15 per cent cut on the biomass estimate because we had some concerns with the estimates… This year we’ve made adjustments and are really more secured in the estimates. Everything should be right on.”
The 2021 stock assessment indicates a biomass of commercial-sized adult male crabs estimated at 80,950 tonnes. Applying the harvest decision rule of the precautionary approach would result in a catch option of 33,163 tonnes. The harvest decision rule in effect for the snow crab fishery is one of the different factors taken into account when establishing the TAC for the upcoming season.
Last year’s TAC was set at 24,261.44 tonnes.
The final allocation decision was expected to be made by the federal minister in March.
“On top of the commercial biomass, which is still going strong, we have positive indicators for recruitment as well as for females so we’re keeping an eye on different indicators to make sure we’re not missing anything and that if something is coming our way, we have a heads up,” said Rondeauit.
“The abundance of females is still very positive and this year for recruitment we’ve seen a historical high level of small snow crab that will probably be in the fishery in five or six years, so that was a very big pulse in recruitment so the prospect for the upcoming years is still positive,” she said.
There were 440 active vessels in the snow crab fishery in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2021.
According to an economic summary of the snow crab fishery by DFO, the preliminary landed value of the Canadian fishery in 2020 was just over $563 million with a total of 71,081 metric tonnes landed. Last years’ total preliminary landings weighed in at 76,588 metric tonnes. The landed value was not available.
Continuous challenges from the North Atlantic right whale presence in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, unknowns regarding the COVID-19 impact on snow crab demand, price, processing capacity and changes in the North American snow crab supply with an 88 per cent quota decrease in the U.S. for this season (5.6 million pounds, compared to 45 million pounds) are cited as outlook factors for 2022 in the economic summary.
