NOTICE TO HARVESTERS - DFO

Moncton – The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Gulf Region, announced today the stabilization of access to the Area 12, 18, 25, 26 snow crab fishery.  This announcement follows the previous stabilization of access for the period 2005 to 2009. 

As suggested in the « Policy Framework for the Management of Fisheries on Canada’s Atlantic Coast », the fishery is a common property resource to be managed for the benefit of all Canadians.  DFO manages these resources consistent with conservation objectives and sustainable use, the protection afforded Aboriginal rights, and the relative contributions that various uses of the resource make to Canadian society. 

The Framework also suggests that the distribution of the resource to various commercial fleets be established for longer terms.  In order to better plan their fishing operations, harvesters need to know if they have long term access to a particular fishery and what their share of the resource will be. 

It is in this context that access to the Crab Fishing Area 12, 18, 25, 26 snow crab fishery is stabilized for the period 2010 to 2014 inclusive, as follows: