Offshore Lobster and Jonah Crab Integrated Fisheries Management Plan
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Offshore Lobster and Jonah Crab Integrated Fisheries Management Plan Maritimes Region Jonah Crab (Cancer borealis) American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Updated September 2016 Foreword This document constitutes the Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP), developed in conjunction with licence holders for the Maritimes Region offshore lobster fleet in Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 41. It is based on an ecosystem approach, employs co-management, and continues the shared stewardship process used in this fishery to ensure sustainability of the fishery. Where DFO is responsible for implementing obligations under land claims agreements, the IFMP will be implemented in a manner consistent with these obligations. In the event that an IFMP is inconsistent with obligations under land claims agreements, the provisions of the land claims agreements will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency. This IFMP is not a legally binding instrument which can form the basis of a legal challenge. The IFMP can be modified at any time and does not fetter the Minister’s discretionary powers set out in the Fisheries Act. The Minister can, for reasons of conservation or for any other valid reasons, modify any provision of the IFMP in accordance with the powers granted pursuant to the Fisheries Act. ____________________ Doug Wentzell Regional Director Fisheries Management Maritimes Region Table of Contents 1. Overview of the Fishery 6 1.1. Introduction 6 1.2. History 6 1.3. Current Participants 8 1.4. Location of the Fishery 8 1.5. Time Frame of the Fishery 9 1.6. Landings 9 1.7. Market and Economics 10 1.8. Consultative Process 11 1.9. Harvesting Controls: TAC, the Number of Licences and Carapace Size 12 2. Lobster and Jonah Crab Stock Status 13 2.1. Lobster Stock Status 13 2.2. Species Interactions and Interactions with Other Fisheries 15 2.3. Lobster Stock Assessment 16 2.4. Jonah Crab Stock Status 18 2.5. Species Interactions and Interactions with Other Fisheries 19 2.6. Jonah Crab Stock Assessment 19 2.7. Offshore Jonah Crab Landings 19 2.8. Prospects for Offshore Jonah Crab Fishery 20 2.9. Monitoring and Research Programs: (Proposed) 21 3. Current Research Issues 22 3.1. Browns Bank Closed Area 22 3.2. Exploration for Offshore Jonah Crab and Lobster in LFA 41 NAFO Division 4W 22 4. Long-term Objectives for the Fishery (Appendix IV, May 2011) 23 5. General Management Objectives (Appendix IV, May 2011) 23 5.1. Conservation/Sustainability of the LFA 41 Resource (Appendix V, May 2014) 23 5.2. Protection of Adjacent Inshore Fisheries 24 5.3. Maintain the Long-term Viability of the Existing Fleet 24 5.4. Increased Movement towards Co-management of this Fishery 24 5.5. Environmentally Responsible Fishing 24 5.6. Species at Risk 24 5.7. Other Domestic Considerations 25 5.8. International Considerations 26 6. Current Management Issues 26 6.1. Protection of Browns Bank 26 6.2. Continuation of Co-management Approaches 26 6.3. Environmentally Responsible Fishing 27 6.4. Other Domestic Issues 27 6.5. International Issues 28 7. Specific Management Measures 28 7.1. Gear 28 7.2. Season 29 7.3. Dockside Monitoring 29 8. Access and Allocation 29 8.1. Sharing Arrangements 29 8.2. Quotas and Allocations 30 9. Monitoring and Enforcement Issues, Strategies and Action 31 9.1. General Enforcement Issues 31 9.2. Enforcement Strategies 32 9.3. Enforcement Action 32 Appendix 1: OLJCAC MEMBERSHIP 33 Appendix II: OLJCAC Terms of Reference 34 Purpose 34 Scope 34 Administration 34 Appendix III: OLJCMB Terms of Reference 36 Purpose 36 Functions and Responsibilities 36 Meetings 36 Subcommittees 36 Voting Procedures 36 Minutes of Meetings 36 Expenses 36 Attendance 37 Membership 37 Quorum 37 Appendix IV: Offshore Lobster IFMP Objectives 38 Appendix V: Precautionary Approach for Offshore Lobster 39 Indicators of Stock Health 39 Justifications and Rationale 42 Uncertainty 44 Harvest Control Rules 44 Appendix VI: List of Amendments 47 1. OVERVIEW OF THE FISHERY 1.1. Introduction The Offshore Lobster and Jonah Crab Integrated Fishery Management Plan evolved from the 1970s through a series of public policy decisions and operational plans. The current plan was published in 2011. It contains provisions for the inclusion of Ecosystem Management Objectives through an “evergreen” (annually extending the Plan) review approach for this plan. The intent of this plan is to provide the policy framework to guide the operational management of the offshore Lobster and Jonah Crab fisheries. 1.2. History 1.2.1. Beginnings: 1971-1975 Licences and Area As a result of the growth of an offshore lobster fishery in the United States (US) during the latter part of the 1960s, similar Canadian interest in an offshore lobster fishery on Georges Bank began. In July 1971, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced the opening of a Canadian offshore lobster fishery. The fishery was authorized for a geographical area termed “Lobster District A”, which is the area seaward from the offshore lobster boundary line - 50 nautical miles from the geographical base line for the 12 mile limit. This district extended along the entire outer portion of the Scotian Shelf. In 1970, the US government imposed restrictions on the importation of swordfish due to increasing consumer standards on mercury levels in food products. This approach negatively affected the Canadian swordfish longline fishery, which exported the majority of its landings to the US market. In an effort to provide an alternative fishery option to the Canadian swordfish longline fleet, the Canadian government offered an opportunity to the 56 swordfish longline licence holders, predominantly based in Southwest Nova Scotia (SWNS), to fish offshore lobsters. However, few of the swordfish vessel licence holders opted to acquire an offshore lobster licence and, by 1972, only six swordfish vessels had entered the new fishery, with two additional licences entering the fishery in 1976. The awarding of the two additional licences caused serious reservations among the SWNS inshore lobster industry as concerns were expressed that the offshore effort may negatively impact the viability of the inshore lobster fishery. The Canadian offshore lobster fishery initially occurred on the known lobster grounds of southern Georges Bank. This provided an obvious geographical separation between the inshore and offshore fleet activity. Exploratory efforts indicated concentrations of lobster along the eastern and southwestern portion of Browns Bank which contributed to offshore catches from all areas increasing to 678 tonnes (t) by 1976. Since many inshore fishermen believed that the offshore harvesting effort could be disrupting the migration of lobsters to the inshore grounds, they expressed serious concerns on the impact that this new offshore lobster effort may have on their established fishery. The average 6 landings for inshore SWNS lobster decreased from 4036 t during 1970-1976 to 3120 t for the period of 1976-1980. 1.2.2. Restrictions: 1976 While the inshore lobster fleet’s concerns of the potential impact of the offshore lobster fleet on lobster migrations could not be supported with the data available at the time, DFO responded by applying additional restrictions on the offshore lobster fishery. These restrictions included: (1) freezing the number of offshore lobster licences at eight, (2) limiting the number of traps at 1000 traps/vessel, (3) applying a 10 month season (to be chosen by the vessel owner) and (4) a 408 t Total Allowable Catch (TAC) on the 4X portion of Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 41, which included the area closest to the inshore fleet, Brown’s Bank area. Only six of the eight licences were permitted to fish in this part of the offshore area, with the remaining two licences restricted to Georges Bank. All eight licences had fishing access to Georges Bank, including 5Ze, with no quota limits. 1.2.3. Closed Area: 1979 In 1979, DFO established a rectangular regulatory “closed” area on Browns Bank, identified as LFA 40, to protect lobster brood stock (see reference maps, Illustrations II and III). The closure continues to remain in effect, encompassing all portions of the Bank shallower than 50 fathoms and straddles the inshore/offshore line with approximately 57% of its area in LFA 34 and 43% in LFA 41. This closure did not affect other gear sectors at that time. 1.2.4. The “Hague” Line Affects the Fishery: 1984 During the period of 1977-1984, the 408 t TAC remained in effect. In October 1984, an International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision established the official boundary between Canada and the US in the Gulf of Maine known as “the Hague Line”. The ICJ ruling subsequently displaced the American offshore lobster effort from areas now defined as Canadian waters, principally in Crowell Basin and Georges Basin. Average annual American catches from these two combined areas were estimated at 200 t. The Canadian offshore lobster allocations were based on: (1) the 4X 408t TAC; (2) the average annual Canadian 5Z (Georges Bank, Georges Basin and part of the Northeast Channel) lobster catches; and (3) 100t from the estimated American catch from Crowell and Georges Basins and Georges Bank. 1.2.5. Enterprise Allocation Program Introduced: 1985/86 The combination of (1) a small marginally profitable offshore lobster fleet, (2) a major trans-boundary ruling by the ICJ in 1984 and (3) increasing conservation and economic concerns from the inshore fleet relating to impact of this fishery on their own fishery, generated an environment requiring a collaborative conservation strategy involving DFO and the offshore lobster fleet. In response, the Offshore Lobster Advisory Committee (OLAC) was formed in 1985. This Committee was originally comprised of the offshore lobster licence holders, the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and DFO. 7 In 1986, OLAC recommended an initial three-year trial Enterprise Allocation (EA) Offshore Lobster Management Plan for this fishery, which provided licence holders with the equivalent of transferable quotas.