DFO says the exploitable biomass of snow crab in all fishing areas off the province is expected to be at, or near historic lows by 2028 due to warming ocean temperatures and low numbers of mature female and smaller crab.
The department released it’s snow crab stock assessment today. DFO biologist Julia Pantin says while current stocks are in the healthy zone in area 3LNO, they are in the cautious zone in other areas, and in the critical zone in area 3K.
She says while the overall stock biomass is largely stable, that’s based on the assessment in area 3LNO which accounts for 90 per cent of the biomass.
Future projections however, are not looking as good.
Advisory meetings start this week where input will be gathered ahead of decisions on Total Allowable Catch for the coming season.
FFAW President Dwan Street
FFAW says PA approach needs to be scrapped
The FFAW says DFO’s latest assessment “signals more pain” for harvesters in areas 3K, 2J and 3Ps, and it’s calling on the federal minister to scrap the Precautionary Approach framework in its 2026 management decisions.
President Dwan Street calls the precautionary approach model “misleading” and says it underscores the need to revisit how it is calculated and applied to the province’s snow crab fishery.
Street says the status in 3K “is based, in part, on a prediction that cannot happen.” She says harvesters are “deeply frustrated” with a management approach that is contributing to “extreme volatility” in how DFO applies the precautionary approach.
She says the situation has become “untenable, and is continuing to harm the economic sustainability” of the province’s owner-operator fleet.
