News Release

MULTI-YEAR HERRING MANAGEMENT PLAN (2001-2003) FOR HERRING FISHING AREA (4T) - SOUTHERN GULF

Moncton -- The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Gulf Region, today announced a multi -year (3 years) Herring Integrated Fisheries Management Plan for Herring Fishing Area 4T, in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

This multi-year approach will allow the promotion of a greater sense of cooperation among stakeholders and a more efficient use of internal DFO resources. The industry stakeholders agreed to a three-year management plan in which a harvesting plan will be prepared annually to set adjustments to the global total allowable catch (TAC). Details of yearly and multi-year management measures are provided in Annex 3 of the backgrounder.

The 2001 TAC is set at 12,500 t for the spring spawning stock component and 60,500 t for the fall. Last year, the TAC was set at 16,500 t for the spring and 71,000 t for the fall. The above TAC takes into consideration the stock abundance and the protection of the new recruits entering this fishery.

The traditional sharing of quotas remain unchanged in 2001 - 76.83% allocated to the inshore fleet and 23.17% to the large seiners.

For the spring fishery, an allocation by Herring Fishing Area (HFA) will be maintained to allow a more equitable sharing of the resource amongst inshore fleets. The monitoring program with a 100 % dockside verification will be required in HFA 16 C and E. Also, weekly landing limits will be implemented in these areas.

For the fall fishery management measures, there are no changes from the 2000 plan except for a few minor adjustments in the opening dates of the fishing season.

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For more information:

General inquiries:

Internet: : http://www.glf.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/comm-comm/nr-cp/index-e.html

Please note that there is also a related backgrounder available on request or at the above-noted web site.