Gulf Region

2020 SCALLOP CONSERVATION HARVESTING PLAN FOR SCALLOP FISHING AREA 22

Tracadie, NB and Charlottetown, PEI– April 23, 2020 - Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is announcing the management measures for the Scallop Fishing Area 22 (SFA 22) for 2020.

Fishing Season :

th thThe scallop fishery will open on Monday, May 4 , 2020 and will close on Saturday, May 30 ,

2020. The fishery will take place from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, and will be closed on Sundays. The opening dates were established in consultations with industry members.

DFO wishes to remind fish harvesters to exercise caution when navigating in locations where dredging operations are on-going.

NEW management measure:

Logbook : Fisheries and Oceans Canada is implementing a new scallop logbook for the 2020 scallop fishing season. This new logbook version requirement is included in the 2020 conditions of licence, therefore it cancels and replaces any other previous scallop logbook versions.

Fish harvesters are required to maintain a record of their estimated catches in the new Scallop Logbook (GLF VERSION 2020) prior to entering port. The new scallop logbook must be obtained from a pre-qualified supplier identified by DFO before the start of their fishing activities. Fish harvesters are required to forward their logbooks to DFO no later than two weeks following the closure of the fishing season.

Other management measures in place :

The following management measures from 2019 will remain in effect for the 2020 fishing season. Further details are available in the scallop licence conditions:

Ring Size: The authorized minimal ring size in the bucket construction is set at 89 mm (31⁄2 inches) with no rubber washers, with the exception of the first row of buckets where 76.2 mm (3 inches) rings may be used.

EKME/MGCE : 4153083