Fishery Notice

2017 Prawn and Shrimp by Trap Season Opening

Prawn and shrimp by trap harvesters are advised that a shorter notification 
period of not more than 3 days will be given between the announcement and 
closure of areas to the commercial fishery in-season. It is the fish 
harvesters' responsibility to ensure that an area is open before setting gear 
and to ensure that the area has not closed while their gear remains in the 
water. Fishery notices and announcements are posted weekly on Friday and Monday 
(Tuesday following statutory holidays) throughout the season. Fishery notices 
of variation orders that open and close fisheries are available on the internet 
at: 
http://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm 

Telephone answering machine recordings are available after office hours and on 
weekends for North and Central Coast waters at (250) 627-3455 and for South 
Coast waters and Fraser River / Howe Sound at (250) 756-7233.

Open 12:00 hours May 11, 2017 until further notice for all species of shrimp, 
including prawns, by trap gear, in the following areas: 

Subareas 1-1 to 1-5 and 1-7

Areas 2, 3, 5 to 10, 101 to 110, 130 and 142 excluding Bowie Seamount Marine 
Protected Area, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs 
Marine Protected Area and the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area 
Reserve and Haida Heritage Site.

Subareas 4-1 to 4-9 and 4-12 to 4-15

Subareas are described in the Pacific Fishery Management Area Regulations.

Variation Order Number 2017 - 233


Note: 
This notice applies to the North and Central Coast, Areas 1 to 10 and Offshore 
Areas 101 to 110, 130 and 142 inclusive.  Please refer to the South Coast/ 
Fraser River Notice for Areas 11 to 29, 111, 121 and 123 to 127.

On the first day of the fishery, May 11, 2017, harvesters will be permitted to 
set their gear and haul and reset it once only, provided they do so by 19:00 
hours. 

Effective May 12, 2017, hauling of prawn and shrimp by trap gear, line and 
buoys is permitted only once per day as a condition of licence in all areas of 
the coast. This is referred to as single hauling.
 
In all areas, after opening day, all setting and hauling of prawn and shrimp 
traps will be permitted only between 07:00 hours (7:00 am) and 19:00 hours 
(7:00 pm) and hauling of traps will be permitted only once per day.

All in season area closures will be implemented at 19:00 hours unless otherwise 
announced. 

Vessel masters are advised to carefully consider stability and weather 
conditions when loading their vessels and packing gear.
 
J.O. Thomas is the service company selected by industry to provide: trap tags, 
logbooks, hail in, set/haul data, and the in season at-sea observer program.  
The hail in number is 1-866-930-4000. 

Every person working on a vessel that is fishing under a communal commercial 
licence must be designated by the First Nation that holds the licence. The 
designation must be made in writing and include the person's name and reference 
the communal commercial licence. The designation must be carried on-board and 
be produced on request of any Fishery Officer. First Nations licence holders 
interested in obtaining an example template to use to designate their 
harvesters may contact a DFO Resource Manager.

All vessels must have a DFO-approved vessel monitoring system reporting vessel 
location every 15 minutes.

Vessel masters are reminded that the Conditions of Licence require the string 
location and the haul time to be recorded in the harvest logbook "Time of Haul" 
column within ½ hour of hauling, and before the next string is hauled.  

The minimum size limit for prawns is 33 mm measured as carapace length. The 
minimum size for tailed prawns is 22 mm telson length.

Traps must be sorted and undersized prawns released as each trap comes on board.

All berried prawns must be released.

A total of 300 traps on 6 strings may be fished or 500 traps on 10 strings 
where traps have been reallocated prior to licencing. These trap and string 
limits do not apply in the Special Management Areas.

Bowie Seamount Marine Protected Area (portions of Area 101 and 142, Hecate 
Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area 
(Portions of Areas 105, 106, 107 and 110) and the Gwaii Haanas National Marine 
Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site (portions of subareas 2-13, 2-
16, 2-31, 2-33, 2-34, 2-37, 2-41, 2-19, 102-3, 130-3, 142-1)are closed to the 
prawn and shrimp by trap fishery.  A description of the closure areas is 
available from the Integrated Fishery Management Plan.

All "W" and "FW" licence eligibility holders other than those with zero trap 
allocations due to transfers may fish and report octopus.  All harvesters are 
required to accurately report information about the octopus catch. Closures to 
the harvest of octopus are described in the Commercial Harvest Plan.

Harvesters are reminded that section 25(1) of the Fisheries Act prohibits all 
pre-fishery fishing efforts or the setting of any fishing gear or apparatus 
prior to the opening time at 1200 h May 11, 2017.

No prawns or shrimp that are not permitted to be retained under the authority 
of the commercial or communal commercial licence shall be on board the licenced 
vessel. 

All frozen and fresh product on board must be in a condition that it can be 
readily measured and identified by species. Freezing of whole or tailed product 
in solid blocks or tubs of ice will require that the harvester provide randomly 
selected samples to be thawed for inspection by Fishery Officers.

All traps shall contain a biodegradable escape mechanism ("rot cord") to allow 
bycatch to escape in event traps are lost. 

Solid-sided traps are not permitted.

Refer to the 2017/18 Prawn and Shrimp by Trap Integrated Fisheries Management 
Plan for the detailed commercial harvest plan, closed area descriptions, 
Special Management Area (SMA) restrictions and contact numbers for further 
information or clarification. 


FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Coral Keehn		(250) 627 - 3021
Laurie Convey		(250) 756 - 7233

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0390
Sent April 24, 2017 at 0957

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Visit Fisheries and Oceans Canada on the Web at http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Printed from the Pacific Region web site on July 4, 2024 at 0857