NR-HQ-01-11E

Dhaliwal announces independent review for the Newfoundland snow crab fishery

February 14, 2001

OTTAWA -- Herb Dhaliwal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today announced that an independent review will be conducted to examine specific elements of the snow crab fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador and to provide management recommendations for the 2001 season. A subsequent, complementary review will be conducted at a later date to examine longer-term management measures for this fishery.

"Last year, following the necessary and difficult harvest reductions that were introduced to protect the future sustainability of this resource, I committed to an independent review for the management of snow crab in Newfoundland and Labrador," Mr. Dhaliwal said. "I also indicated that we will work closely with industry to develop a process to implement further adjustments in this fishery.

"As such, I am pleased to note that the industry has been involved in developing the mandate for this review, whose recommendations will contribute to management measures that will likely be introduced for this fishery later this spring."

Within Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s objectives of ensuring conservation and maintaining the viability of existing permanent fishing enterprises, the initial review, to be completed by March 31, 2001, will involve industry consultations and an examination of:

• the impact on all fleet sectors of instituting permanent inshore fishing zones;
• the impact on all fleet sectors of converting current temporary permits for the <35’ fleet to permanent licences; and,
• the appropriate management options to deal with broad scale changes in snow crab abundance.

This phase of the review will be conducted by Dr. Arthur May, former president of Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Mr. Eric Dunne, former Regional Director General of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Newfoundland Region.

The second review, to be conducted later this year, will include examination of broader issues such as the development of the fishery, an examination of the state of science on snow crab, and economic analyses on the distribution of wealth. The information from this broader review will be used in the development of a new multi-year snow crab management plan that will commence in 2002.

"The possibility of instituting permanent inshore fishing zones has been reviewed and deemed not feasible in other regions on the Atlantic coast. However, I look forward to reviewing the feasibility and implications of that possibility in this fishery in Newfoundland," Mr. Dhaliwal said.

"Given the fluctuations in this fishery and evidence that the resource is on a downward cycle, it will be important to ensure that harvesting capacity is not increased. The snow crab fishery is very important to Newfoundland and Labrador and we will only adopt those measures that give priority to the long-term economic and biological sustainability of this resource."

The snow crab fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador has grown rapidly since it began in the early 1970s. Most of the growth has occurred during the 1990s when the total allowable catch increased from 10,500 tonnes in 1990 to 61,185 tonnes in 1999. These increases were attributed to favourable estimates of abundance and commercial catch rate data as well as a substantial expansion in the range of fishing activity, with vessels fishing up to and beyond 200 miles from shore.

However, snow crab resources tend to fluctuate every few years, and in 2000, a 25% overall reduction in harvest levels was implemented as analyses of the 1999 autumn research survey indicated that the resource was, at the time, likely at the start of a downward trend in abundance and recruitment. Data from the 1999 commercial fishery also indicated reductions in biomass, particularly in the northern areas. These trends of fluctuating abundance are also evident in other crab fisheries prosecuted in the Gulf region, Alaska and Russia.