Fishery Notice

The following seasonal areas are open 12:00 hours October 1 to November 30, 2020:

1.	Stewart:  That portion of 3-15 lying southerly of the parallel passing through 55°37.617'N [Green Islets] and easterly of the international boundary between Canada and the United States. 

2.	Big Bay:  That portion of Subarea 4-8 east of a line that begins at 54°28.461'N 130°25.712'W [Shattock Point] then to 54°27.342'N 130°27.049'W [Simpson Point]. 

3.	Prince Rupert:  That portion of Subarea 4-9 inside a line that begins at 54°21.803'N 130°29.243'W [Ryan Point] then to 54°20.355'N 130°30.519'W [Chapman Point] then following the easterly shoreline of Tugwell Island to 54°19.921'N 130°29.696'W [Doolan Point] then to 54°20.141'N 130°27.678'W [Observation Point] then following the shoreline to the beginning point. 

4.	Subareas 6-3, 6-4, 6-23;

5.	Subareas 7-6, 7-10, 7-13, 7-14, 7-16, 7-17

6.	A portion of Subarea 7-15 excluding Troup Passage: 

Those portions of Subarea 7-15 lying inside of a line that begins at 52°18.2012N 127°57.9682W [Jagers Point], then following the westerly shoreline of Cunningham Island to 52°12.2522N 128°05.7182W [Dumas Point], then to 52°13.5952N 128°07.3982W [Chatfield Island], then following the northerly shoreline of Chatfield Island to
52°18.2012N 128°00.8312W, then due east to the beginning point.

7.	Subareas 9-2, 9-3, 9-4, 9-6

These actions are as per the 2020/21 Crab Integrated Fisheries Management Plan.

Variation order 2020-514 are in effect.

	
These actions are as per the 2020/21 Crab Integrated Fisheries Management Plan. 
 
NOTES:

Hanging Bait

The use of hanging bait is prohibited in Area B.  All bait must be placed within a hard plastic bait cup with a screw-top lid.  The bait cups may have holes drilled in them but holes can be no larger than 8 mm in diameter.

Trap Limits

The Area B trap limit is 361 including a maximum of 180 traps in the seasonal Central Coast, Nass Estuary and Kitkatla areas.


Best Management Practices:

Release all by-catch species with the least possible harm.  Retention of flatfish, finfish, and soft, female, and undersized Dungeness crab is prohibited.

To improve FSC access and to reduce conflicts, keep gear away from areas fronting First Nation reserves. 

Buoy lines should be appropriate for water depth and tide cycles

Keep crab buoys brightly painted and in accordance with licence conditions

Minimise wash in harbours, particularly at boat launches, marinas and other wharves

Avoid pulling crab traps through beds of eel grass

If commercial harvesters are replacing active crab traps with ones that have been inactive for more than 18 days they should transfer the RFID chip from the active trap to the replacement trap.  This RFID replacement activity will help minimise violation errors associated with oversoak and trap allocation calculations.

Escape Holes 
Vessel masters are reminded that all traps fished must now have two 105 mm escape holes located not more than 100 mm below the top of the frame. 

Soft-Shell Crab
Soft-shell crab may not be retained or possessed in the commercial crab fishery.  This prohibition also applies to crab buyers and processors. 
"Soft-shell crab" means a crab whose shell is not fully hardened, and yields to finger pressure.  A crab with a durometer measurement of 70 units or less is defined as a soft-shell crab.

Camera Electronic Monitoring

The service provider for Area B is Pacific Coast Fishery Services Inc. (250-931-7686, willem@pcfish.ca).  This service provider provides EM coverage, plastic trap tags & RFID Chips, logbook service, and conducts biological sampling.  Prior to fishing, all vessels must have installed a camera electronic monitoring (EM) system by PCFS or arrange for observer coverage.


FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Dillon Buerk
Area A & B Crab Resource Manager
Tel: / Tél: (250) 627-3477
Fax: / Télécopieur: (250) 627-3427
E-mail/ Courrier électronique: Dillon.buerk@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN1040
Sent September 30, 2020 at 1256

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Printed from the Pacific Region web site on May 8, 2024 at 1846