DFO has announced a cut in the Total Allowable Catch in the province’s snow crab fishery – an overall decrease of 3 per cent from last year.
Some fishing areas will see an increase in quotas, while others will see drastic cuts.
This year’s TAC is set at 61,004 tonnes – with a 4 per cent increase in area 3LNO off the Avalon Peninsula and a 19 per cent increase in 4R3Pn off the west and southwest coast.
The biggest cuts come in area 3K off the northeast coast where the TAC has dropped by 18 per cent – and a 30 per cent decrease in 3Ps off the south coast.
2Hj off the east coast of southern Labrador will see a 20 per cent cut in the TAC.
DFO previously warned that the exploitable biomass of snow carb in all fishing areas is expected to be at, or near historic lows by 2028 due to warming ocean temperatures and low numbers of mature female and smaller crab.
DFO is beginning a “comprehensive review of the snow crab precautionary approach framework in consultation with the industry and partners.
FFAW President Dwan Street (left) and Federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson (right)
FFAW relieved to see minister take more conservative approach to recommended cuts
The FFAW says while it is disappointed to see the cuts, it is relieved to see that the final decision on quotas is more conservative than what was initially proposed through the Precautionary Approach.
Union president Dwan Street says under the Precautionary Approach, 3K would have seen a 78 per cent cut in quota.
While they never like to see any cuts, she commends the fisheries minister for listening to harvesters.
“The numbers on paper match the numbers that came from harvesters and the recommendations from those committees, so we thank the minister for first of all meeting one-on-one with some of those harvesters and hearing them out and hearing what they’re seeing on the water and for her decision to reflect that.”
Street says the current quotas will allow harvesters time to adjust, rather than suffer the “peaks and valleys” of big increases and then “drastic cuts that you have no time to prepare for.”
