Snow crab group accepts new requirements meant to reduce right whale mortality

New management measures being introduced in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab fishery this year are doable, says Carter Hutt, president of the P.E.I. Snow Crab Association.

The new measures were announced in Moncton earlier this week by federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, but Hutt said industry was in on the planning and is supportive of measures meant to reduce the possibility of North Atlantic right whale entanglements.

There was an unprecedented 12 right whale deaths recorded in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2017, and human activity, mostly from the shipping and fishing sectors, was found to be a leading cause.

Scientists believe there are fewer than 500 of the whales still in existence.

A key recommendation was to eliminate floating rope.

“The whales tend to feed on the surface. If the rope is floating or a slack rope, that’s when they become entangled,” Hutt explained.

He said many snow crab fishermen already incorporate leaded rope into their buoy lines. This weighted rope keeps the regular rope attached to the buoy suspended in the water.

Hutt said fishermen who do not use leaded rope will have to make the changes to their lines before fishing season opens this spring.

Another new measure allows for a maximum of two fathoms (3.7 metres) of rope when attaching a secondary buoy to a primary one.

There are also measures to help pinpoint where a whale got into trouble if it was found entangled in gear.

Snow crab fishermen must mark their rope with a colour specific to their fishing area. Hutt said fishermen in Area 12, where he fishes, must have an orange marking on their line every 15 meters. That measure will be easily accomplished, he says.

In addition to marking their buoys with their CFV number, fishermen will have to sequentially number their buoys. And, starting this year, all licence holders are required to report lost gear.

Hutt said mid-shore vessels are a concern because their stabilizers snag buoy lines, snapping them off and leaving the rope floating in the water, unable to be found by the fishermen.

The reporting requirement, said Hutt, could help fishermen recover lost gear. It is his understanding effort will be made post-season to retrieve gear reported as lost.

He noted one of the whales found dead last year was dragging a crab trap with a tag number from the 1980s.

“That would’ve been a lost trap,” he said.