Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI) – June 20, 2022 – Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Gulf Region, is announcing the management measures for the Scallop fishing area (SFA) 23 in 2022. The fishery opens at 06:00 hrs. on July 4, 2022 and closes at 18:00 hrs. on August 20, 2022. There will be daily closures from 18:00 hrs. to 06:00 hrs. the following day and closed the entire day on Sundays.
New in 2022 :
Discarding waste: In 2022, all commercial fisheries in Canada have a new condition of licence relating to the discharge of garbage from Canadian fishing vessels. The licence holder/operator is prohibited from discarding in Canadian fisheries waters from their vessel anything that may be harmful to fish or fish habitat. Refer to the 2022 - New Condition of Licence for further details.
Fishing gear reporting system (or Lost Gear Reporting): A new online system was launched in July 2021 to allow commercial harvesters to conveniently input lost and retrieved gear information from any smart electronic device. The system is able to capture information such as descriptions, cause of loss and location of the lost gear. Fish harvesters can create their account and begin reporting their data through the Fishing Gear Reporting System.
Management measures in place for the 2022 fishing season:
Fishing Season: Open at 06:00 hrs. on July 4, 2022 and close at 18:00 hrs. on August 20, 2022. Daily closures will occur each day from 18:00 hrs. to 06:00 hrs. the following day and closed all Sundays.
Washers: A maximum of two (2) steel washers may be used to join each side of the rings together, giving a maximum of 8 steel washers per ring. In addition, one rubber washer may be used vertically to join two (2) bucket rings together. The maximum outside diameter of rubber washers must not exceed 50.8mm. Furthermore, chaffing gear on the underside of the drag will be allowed when the rings are joined only with steel washers.
Meat Count: 33 per 500 gm of meat.
Logbook Requirements: Fishers are required to maintain a record of their estimated catches in a logbook prior to entering port. Fishers are required to forward their logbooks to DFO no later than two (2) weeks following the closure of the fishing season.
Ring Size: The authorized ring size in the bucket construction is set at 82.6 mm with the exception of the first row of rings attached to the bucket frame, where the inside diameter of all rings shall not be less than 76.2 mm.
Drag Size: Maximum width of 6.09 m outside measurements.
Tow Bar: The tow bar must be raised at least 50.8 mm with the use of runners or wheels that are located at both extremities of the bar and being at least 50.8 mm wide.
Offloading Requirements: Licence holders are not authorized to land (off-load) any other part of the scallop except for the adductor muscle (no roe or other internal organs of the scallop may be retained).