General Overview of the Gulf Fisheries 1987-1999

• Trends in the Gulf Fisheries - Landed Value
• The Lobster Fishery
• The Snow Crab Fishery
• The Midshore Snow Crab Fishery (Area 12)
• The Inshore Snow Crab Fishery in the Gulf
• The Herring Fishery
• The Gulf Shrimp Fishery
• Other Fisheries

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Although the commercial fisheries in Atlantic Canada have been hard hit by the groundfish moratorium in the last few years, the Gulf Fisheries landed value has increased substantially since the beginning of the 1990s.

In 1999, preliminary figures show that the total landed value of the Gulf Fisheries was $317 million. If we go back to 1990, the total landed value for the Gulf Fisheries was $163 million. The total landed value in 1995 reached a record high of $363 million.

Lobster and snow crab are mostly responsible for the huge increase in the landed value of the Gulf Fisheries in the last few years. In 1995, the landed value of lobster reached a high of $168.7 million while the landed value of snow crab also reached a peak of $134.7 million. In 1999, the total landed value of lobster was $188.200 million while the landed value of snow crab was $60.5 million.

In terms of percentage, molluscs and crustaceans represented more than 90% of the total landed value in 1999. Lobster and snow crab were the two most important species with 57.6% and 19.2% respectively of the total landed value in the Gulf Fisheries.

The pelagic and estuarial species represented 7.3% of the total landed value in 1999. The main species in this category is herring. As for the groundfish species, they account for only 2.5% of the total landed value. Before the stocks collapsed in the early 1990s, this category accounted for roughly 10% of the total landed value.

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Lobster has always been the mainstay of the Gulf Fisheries. During the last decade, lobster landings have averaged 20,000 m.t., with peak landings of 22,215 m.t. in 1990. During this year however, prices fell drastically and the total landed value of lobster was $81 million. Over the last ten years, the volume landed has decreased on a constant basis to 16,785 m.t. in 1999 while the value has continued to climb and reached $181.8 million in 1999.

The management of the lobster fishery in the Gulf is divided into five areas and 3,212 fishers participate in this fishery annually. The lobster fishery is an inshore fishery where fishers use vessels less than 45 feet in length. These fishers usually hold multi-species licenses and harvest other types of fish to supplement their income. The majority of lobster fishers have licenses for herring, mackerel, groundfish and some are also licensed to harvest species such as scallops, gaspereau, eels, smelts, mussels, oysters, irish moss and others.

During the last few years, prices for both canner (small size) and market size (large size) lobster have increased significantly. In 1990, fishers were paid an average of $2.28/lb. for market size lobster and $1.47/lb. for canner size lobster. In 1999, prices climbed to $5.70/lb. for market and $4.55/lb. for canners, a record high.

If we examine the average revenue per lobster license on an Area basis for 1999, the average (excluding Area 27) fluctuates from a low average of $45,231 in lobster fishing area 26B, to a high of $82,937 in Lobster Fishing Area 24.

* Area 27 is part of Scotia-Fundy fisheries. However, 47 fishers fish in this area but land in the Gulf.

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In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, there are two types of snow crab fishery, the midshore snow crab fishery (Area 12) and the inshore snow crab fishery (Area 18 and 19), Cape Breton and (Area 25 & 26) in Prince Edward Island.

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The midshore snow crab fleet in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is made up of 130 vessels, 47 of them having their home ports in Quebec, 81 in New Brunswick and 2 in Nova Scotia.

During the first half of the 1990s, the midshore snow crab fishery became very lucrative. Between 1990 and 1994, total landings for Zone 12 (Gulf and Quebec) have almost tripled in terms of volume (from 7,000 to 20,000 m.t.) and the total landed value has gone from $16.8 to $115 million. In 1995, the total allocation for Zone 12 (20,000 m.t.), including the sharing with the non-traditional fleets, was worth in excess of $165 million.

The landed value increased tremendously because the average price received by fishers in the early 1990s varied between $1.00/lb and $1.30/lb. Starting in 1993, prices began to soar to reach $3.75/lb in 1995 which translated to an average gross revenue of roughly one million per enterprise.

The 1995, 1996 and 1997 snow crab management plans provided temporary crab allocations to inshore groups and groundfish fishing enterprises affected by the moratorium. In 1997, a five year co-management agreement was signed between DFO and the Zone 12 traditional snow crab fishers. This co-management plan allows additional fishers to participate when a revenue threshold is reached by the traditional fleet.

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There are three inshore snow crab fishing areas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; Area 18, 19, and 25/26.

In Area 18, there are 30 licensed snow crab fishers. In 1999, they were all active and the holders landed an average value of $77,767 per boat.

In 1995, there were 74 license holders in Area 19. In 1996, a five year co-management agreement was signed with DFO and an additional 37 licences were issued. The new licenses have smaller quotas than the 74 traditional licences. These fishers landed snow crab for an average value of $141,676 per boat in 1999.

In Area 25 & 26, there are a total of 30 licensed snow crab fishers. Under the new five year co-management approach, this inshore area has been integrated into the larger Southern Gulf (Area 12) snow crab fishing zone. An annual revenue threshold has also been set for these inshore enterprises. In 1999, these 30 fishers landed 676 t.m. of snow crab for a total value of $3.58 million, or $119,143 per boat.

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The Gulf fisheries is responsible for coordinating the management of the herring fisheries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including NAFO areas 4R, 4S, 4T and subarea 4Vn. Under a management plan which covered 1993, 1994 and 1995, the herring fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence had a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 145,000 m.t. This allocation is shared amongst more than 4,700 licensed fishers, most of which are gillnetters, but also includes small purse seiners (32 vessels) and large purse seiners (11 vessels). These fishers are from five provinces including Quebec (1,323 licences), western Newfoundland (882 licences), Prince Edward Island (868 licences), Gulf Nova Scotia (428 licences), and Gulf New Brunswick (1,209 licences).

In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (4T), we have a spring fishery and a fall fishery. These fisheries are managed by season to reflect the spring and fall spawning components of the stock.

The spring inshore fishery is concentrated mostly in the Bay of Chaleur and Escuminac areas. The Bay of Chaleur fishery is directed towards bait and cured products, while the Escuminac fishery is almost entirely directed towards supplying the bloater plants in southeastern New Brunswick.

The fall inshore fishery is mostly concentrated in the Bay of Chaleur/Miscou area. This fishery is entirely directed towards the Japanese herring roe market.

The large herring seiners are not allowed to fish for herring roe and their catches are directed towards the food fishery.

Under the current management plan, the 4T herring is shared 76.83% for the inshore fishers and 23.17% for the large seiners.

During the three year period 1991 to 1993, prices for herring were very low and the competition on the Japanese herring roe market was strong. Because of the low prices and weak markets, many inshore fishers remained inactive.

In 1993, the total value of herring in the Gulf fisheries was at an all-time low of $5.1 million. In 1996, figures indicate that the total landed value of herring in the Gulf had more that tripled, and was at $18.8 million. For 1999, preliminary figures show that the total landed value of herring was $14.3 million.

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In the Gulf shrimp fleet, there are 20 licences and in 1999, these were all active. Three of these fishers hold a midshore snow crab licence. Because of the downturn in the groundfish fisheries, 17 of these licence holders depend exclusively on shrimp for their revenue. It should be noted that before the groundfish stocks collapsed, this species accounted for about 20% of the gross income of this fleet.

The total landed value of these 20 shrimpers in 1999 (including landings in Quebec and Scotia-Fundy by the Gulf fishers) was $8.5 million. This represents an increase of 70% when compared to the landings of 1994 ($5.0 million).

DFO and the shrimp licence holders in the Gulf of St Lawrence have signed a five year co-management agreement which covers the years 1998 to 2002. This agreement includes the shrimpers of Group B, which total 20 fishers in New Brunswick and 45 in Québec.

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Other fisheries of importance in the Gulf include mussels, with a total landed value of $14.2 million in 1999, scallops ($3.4 million), mackerel ($2.7 million) and rock crab ($3.5 million).