Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Assoc.

Notice to PEI LFA 25 Lobster Harvesters

CAPTAINS/VESSELS FOR HIRE

For the direct link to the registration, please click here.

The PEIFA is seeking 10 Captains (potentially more) in LFA 25 for the 2024 Experimental Striped Bass Bycatch Pilot Project. In an effort collect data widely throughout the LFA approximately half of the captains chosen will have homeports from West Point to Victoria and the remaining will have homeports from Howards Cove to Tignish.

Striped Bass bycatch monitoring will take place throughout the fall lobster fishing season and will conclude on landing day. In order to have a comprehensive data set, participants are requested to commit to participate for the duration of the fishing season and fill out a daily logbook, which will need to be returned to DFO on a monthly basis.

Captains will be issued a Section 52 experimental license permit and will be allowed to retain a certain number of striped bass caught accidentally in lobster traps under the authority of the experimental license. Specific details on retention will be noted in the permit and discussed on the mandatory conference prior to starting the data collection.

~ REGISTRATION DETAILS ~

Registration Dates – 8:30 AM Friday, August 16th, to 2 PM Tuesday, August 20th, 2024.

Fee: No fee to register

How to Register: Online or by phone. Online link is www.peifa.org and click the tab ‘2024 PEIFA Experimental Striped Bass Bycatch Pilot Project’ to enter registration info. To register by phone, call the PEIFA @ 902-566-4050.

Required information for registration: Captain’s name, vessel name, VRN, FIN, Lobster License #, Homeport, E-mail address and Phone number

DRAW: A draw of qualified applicants will be made following the deadline if more than 10 LFA 25 fishers register.

Registrations after 2 PM, Tuesday, August 20^th, 2024 will NOT be accepted

For more details on the requirements of the project visit www.peifa.org or contact Melanie Giffin at 902-566-4050 Ext. #5 or Laura Ramsay at 902-393-2281.

Objective: To test out the retention of striped bass incidental catch in the commercial lobster fishery in LFA 25.

Protocol:

· The Captain will be issued Section 52 experimental license permit

· DFO can revoke the Section 52 experimental license permit at any given time

· Excluding the exceptions stated in the license, the Captain must, while carrying out the activities of this license, comply with all the regulations and conditions of the license that apply to the respective commercial Lobster Fishing License for fishing in LFA 25 for the current year

· The total lengths of any striped bass caught and retained, including those used for bait, must be between 50cm and 65 cm

· No person shall sell, barter, gift or trade any striped bass caught under the authority of the license

· The data specified in the Experimental Protocol Logbook (see below) must be recorded daily for each fishing trip, whether or not there have been interactions with striped bass, prior to entering a port, and submitted to DFO by mail or electronically by email as identified below: