NR-HQ-00-21E

Atlantic Groundfish Management Measures for 2000 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

May 12, 2000

OTTAWA -- The Honourable Herb Dhaliwal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, today announced management measures and Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for groundfish stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The announcement follows recommendations made to the Minister by the Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (FRCC) in its April 7, 2000 report.

The Minister has accepted all of the FRCC’s recommendations on TACs for the Gulf of St. Lawrence stocks.

"As recommended by the FRCC, I have decided to maintain the same catch levels as last year for most stocks as they have shown some improvement in recruitment and evidence of rebuilding," said Mr. Dhaliwal.

The only increase in the TAC was for 4RST witch flounder where the stock biomass has increased in certain areas. The TAC was increased from 800 tonnes in 1999 to 1,000 tonnes for this year.

"Where there is greater concern, as with the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence cod in area 4RS3Pn, I have accepted the advice of the Council and reduced the catch level by 500 tonnes," the Minister said. "It is important to stress that cod stocks in general are still at historically low levels. I encourage the industry to continue to work closely with my officials to maximize the rebuilding of these stocks."

The Minister also announced his support for a Working Group being established by industry to examine the possibility of a multi-year management strategy in the groundfish fishery. The proposal for establishing this Working Group was tabled by the industry at the Gulf Groundfish Advisory Committee (GGAC) meeting in April 2000 and was widely accepted by the Committee. The Working Group will meet later this year and will report to members of the GGAC at its next meeting.

Based on the FRCC recommendation to minimize fishing activities during the spawning period, an approach to limit harvesting of groundfish during that period to avoid disruption of spawning behavior has been adopted for the 2000 fishery.

In response to industry concerns, a limited fishery in 4RS3Pn using 5 ½" mesh gillnets has been authorized for the 2000 fishery. This will allow the department and industry to carry out a comparative study on the conservation impacts between 5 ½" and 6" mesh. Given the present age structure of this stock, rebuilding may be optimized by permitting 5 ½" mesh gillnets, at least for the year 2000.

The FRCC also recommended the implementation of a number of additional management measures to ensure conservation objectives are met. Some of these measures will be implemented by the fishing industry, which will address them in the development of their Conservation Harvesting Plans. The remaining measures will be implemented by the department in consultation with industry during the upcoming fishery.

The TAC levels and management measures will be in place for the May 15, 2000 to May 14, 2001 fishing season.

The recreational groundfish fishery for the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (4T), Quebec (4S)(not including the lower north shore) and the Scotian Shelf (4VW) will be open between June 19 to September 8, 2000. A daily bag limit of 5 fish per person and a vessel limit of 25 fish are imposed. Once again this year, there will be no retention of Atlantic halibut in the recreational fishery.

A comprehensive recreational/food fishery plan for Newfoundland and the Lower North Shore of Quebec will be forthcoming once the FRCC’s recommendations on the 2J3KL cod stock have been reviewed.

The TAC levels for each stock are summarized in the attached backgrounder 2000 TACs for the Gulf of St. Lawrence Groundfish Stocks. Additional information can be found in the backgrounder titled Highlights of the Gulf of St. Lawrence Groundfish Management Measures for 2000<.