Assessment of snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Areas 12, 19, 12E and 12F) to 2018 and advice for the 2019 fishery.: Fs70-6/2019-010E-PDF

“Snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio, has been commercially exploited in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence since the mid-1960s. There are four individually managed fishing areas among which Area 12 (Figure 1) is the largest fishery in terms of its fishable surface, number of participants and landings. In Areas 12, 12E and 12F, the fishing season generally starts in April or May as soon as the Gulf is clear of ice and continues into early summer. In Area 19, the fishery opens after June 30 and typically ends in mid-September. The landing of females is prohibited and only hard-shelled males ≥ 95 mm of carapace width are commercially exploited. DFO Gulf Region Fisheries and Aquaculture Management requested an assessment of the resource status in 2018 and catch advice for the 2019 fishery. This document provides an overview of the assessment results and the science advice. Catch rates and other fishery performance indicators are reported. The assessment of the status of the southern Gulf snow crab resource (Areas 12, 19, 12E and 12F) is based on fishery independent trawl surveys that provide indicators of: abundance (commercial biomass), reproductive potential (abundance of mature females), and recruitment. A science peer review meeting was conducted January 23-24, 2019 in Moncton, New Brunswick. Participants at the science review were from DFO Science, DFO Fisheries and Aquaculture Management, fishing industry, Indigenous organizations, and provincial governments"--Context, page [1].

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