Protection of right whales: Quebec asks Ottawa to move ahead of the opening of the snow crab fishing

Photo archive ÉMY-JANE DÉRY

QMI agency

Sunday, 11 march, 2018 15:54

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Sunday, 11 march, 2018 15:56

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The opening of the snow crab fishery in the southern gulf of St. Lawrence this spring should be advanced by Ottawa, has asked the government of Quebec, in order to avoid the disadvantages imposed by the federal government to protect the right whales.

“The snow crab fishery in the southern gulf is subject to individual quotas. An opening on 10 April would not be prejudicial to the fishermen of other provinces, but it would allow the industry to carry out its activities without harming the whales,” said Laurent Lessard, minister of Fisheries of Quebec by issuing a press release, Sunday.

The minister stated that this request in a letter addressed last Tuesday to its federal counterpart, Dominic Leblanc, who was considering this measure.

In addition to opening early, the minister Lessard argues that it “would also be appropriate to allow the use of 175 traps to allow a fishing faster.” These measures would not increase the number of crabs caught, but they would avoid cages with ropes are in the water when the whales come back in the gulf of St. Lawrence in the spring.

The minister, who is said to have the support of the industry, hope that the Trudeau government acquiescera quickly at his request.

In January, Ottawa has imposed four new measures to the fishermen to avoid the repetition of the catastrophes of last year, when 12 right whales were found dead, including several due to entanglement in fishing gear.

The fishermen will therefore have to reduce the amount of strings, which float to the surface of the water. Linking a record of crab buoy main, these strings will now have to be weighted to hang vertically in the water. The fishermen also will be required to put a new color marking on their equipment according to their sector of activity, and mark a number on each of their buoys. This aims to better identify the areas where occur the entanglement, because the whales may be dragging the fishing gear over hundreds of miles. All fishing gear lost, its last known position, must also be reported.

In addition, the speed limit imposed on ships over the last year in the western gulf should again be put in place in 2018.

The right whale of the North Atlantic, a species that is protected in Canada under the Act the species at risk act. There is only about 450 specimens in the world.