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Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985 (SOR/86-21)

Regulations are current to 2024-08-18 and last amended on 2022-09-27. Previous Versions

PART VIShellfish (continued)

[
  • SOR/93-61, s. 16(F)
]

Clams, Mussels and Oysters (continued)

Recreational Fishing (continued)

 No person engaged in recreational fishing for clams, mussels or oysters shall fish during the period that begins half an hour after sunset on one day and ends half an hour before sunrise on the following day.

  • SOR/2003-314, s. 3

 No person engaged in recreational fishing for clams, mussels or oysters shall catch and retain, in any one day, a quantity of a species of shellfish set out in column I of an item of the table to this section that is greater than the quota set out in column II of the item.

TABLE

Column IColumn II
ItemSpeciesQuota
1Surf clam300
2Atlantic razor clam300
3Soft-shell clam300
4Mussel300
5Oyster40
  • SOR/2003-314, s. 3

Crab

 No person shall, in a Crab Fishing Area set out in column I of an item of Schedule XII, during the close time set out in column II of that item,

  • (a) subject to section 55, fish for crab;

  • (b) possess any crab unless the crab is being transported under the authority of a fish transporting licence issued under these Regulations; or

  • (c) subject to section 52.1, have a crab trap on board a vessel.

  • SOR/93-61, s. 19
  •  (1) A fishery officer may in writing authorize a person to transport crab traps during a close time in a Crab Fishing Area for the purpose of the sale, repair or storage of those traps.

  • (2) A person shall not transport crab traps pursuant to an authorization referred to in subsection (1) except from and to such locations, in such quantities and on such dates as are set out in that authorization.

  • SOR/93-61, s. 19

 No person shall have in his possession

  • (a) any female crab;

  • (b) any snow crab that is less than 95 mm in width; or

  • (c) in a Crab Fishing Area, any crab part or crab meat separated from the carapace of a crab.

  • SOR/88-232, s. 1
  •  (1) Subject to section 55, no person shall fish for crab except from a vessel and with a crab trap.

  • (2) No person shall fish with or have on board a vessel

    • (a) a crab trap that has a mesh size less than 65 mm; or

    • (b) a crab trap the volume of which exceeds 2.1 m3 when measured on the exterior.

  • (3) In Crab Fishing Areas 1 to 11, no person shall fish with or have on board a vessel

    • (a) a crab trap other than a cone-shaped trap; or

    • (b) a cone-shaped crab trap that has a bottom ring with an inside diameter greater than 133 cm.

 Where a person is fishing for lobster in accordance with these Regulations, that person may, without a licence for crab fishing, retain any male rock crabs caught in his lobster traps.

 [Repealed, SOR/2013-37, s. 1]

Lobster

  •  (1) No person shall, in a Lobster Fishing Area set out in column I of an item of Schedule XIV, during the close time set out in column II of that item,

    • (a) fish for lobster;

    • (b) possess any lobster unless the lobster is being transported under the authority of a fish transporting licence issued under these Regulations; or

    • (c) subject to section 58, have a lobster trap on board a vessel.

  • (2) No person shall possess, in a Lobster Fishing Area set out in column I of an item of Schedule XIV, a lobster of a length that is less than the length set out in column III of that item.

  • (3) No person shall possess, in a Lobster Fishing Area set out in column I of an item of Schedule XIV, any claw, tail or meat that has been separated from the thorax or carapace of a lobster.

  • (4) No person shall fish for lobster in the lagoons of the Magdalen Islands in Lobster Fishing Area 22.

  • SOR/93-61, s. 21
  • SOR/93-215, s. 1
  •  (1) A fishery officer may in writing authorize a person to transport lobster traps during a close time in a Lobster Fishing Area for the purpose of the sale, repair or storage of those traps.

  • (2) A person shall not transport lobster traps pursuant to an authorization referred to in subsection (1) except from and to such locations, in such quantities and on such dates as are set out in that authorization.

  • SOR/93-61, s. 22
  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), it is prohibited for any person to buy, sell or have in their possession any lobster that is less than 72 mm in length.

  • (2) In Newfoundland and Labrador, it is prohibited for any person to buy, sell or have in their possession any lobster that is less than 82.5 mm in length.

  • (3) No person shall buy, sell or have in their possession any female lobster with eggs attached.

  • (4) No person shall buy, sell or have in his possession

    • (a) any female lobster from which eggs have been washed or removed in whole or in part; or

    • (b) any female lobster that has egg cement or glue on its swimmerets.

  • SOR/93-61, s. 23(F)
  • SOR/2003-137, s. 9
  • SOR/2017-58, s. 15

 [Repealed, SOR/2003-137, s. 10]

  •  (1) No person shall fish for lobster except from a vessel and with a lobster trap.

  • (2) Subject to subsection (3), where a person is fishing for lobster, he shall not have any mobile gear on board his vessel.

  • (3) The holder of a licence for bait fishing that authorizes the use of an otter trawl in fishing for bait may have an otter trawl on board his vessel while he is fishing for lobster in Lobster Fishing Area 22.

  • (4) Except in Lobster Fishing Area 41, no person shall fish with or have on board a vessel a lobster trap that exceeds

    • (a) 125 cm in its greatest length;

    • (b) 90 cm in its greatest width; or

    • (c) 50 cm in its greatest height.

  • (5) [Repealed, SOR/93-30, s. 1]

  • (6) [Repealed, SOR/96-220, s. 1]

  • SOR/87-440, s. 1
  • SOR/89-85, s. 1(F)
  • SOR/89-204, s. 1
  • SOR/93-30, s. 1
  • SOR/96-220, s. 1

 In Lobster Fishing Areas 1 to 22 and 27 to 41, no person shall fish with, or have on board a vessel, a lobster trap unless the trap

  • (a) has in one exterior wall of each parlour an escape panel that provides, when removed, an unobstructed opening not less than 89 mm in height and 152 mm in width and that is fastened to the lobster trap with

    • (i) untreated cotton or sisal twine that does not exceed 4.8 mm in diameter, or

    • (ii) uncoated ferrous metal wire, other than of stainless steel, that does not exceed 1.6 mm in diameter; or

  • (b) is a wooden lobster trap that has in one exterior wall of each parlour two softwood laths that are adjacent to each other and that are not treated with a wood preservative.

  • SOR/93-30, s. 2

 [Repealed, SOR/2013-37, s. 2]

Scallops

  •  (1) Except for the waters described in subsections (3) to (5), no person shall fish for scallops in a Scallop Fishing Area referred to in column I of an item of Schedule XVI from a vessel of a class set out in column II of that item during the close time set out opposite that class of vessel in column III thereof.

  • (2) [Repealed, SOR/87-672, s. 4]

  • (3) No person shall fish for scallops by any means during the period May 1 to November 30 in the waters of Digby Gut and Annapolis Basin in Scallop Fishing Area 28A inside of a straight line joining Latitude 44°41′30″N., Longitude 65°47′12″W. (Light Tower at Prim Point) to Latitude 44°41′12″N., Longitude 65°45′36″W. (Fog Alarm Building).

  • (4) No person shall fish for scallops by any means during the period of May 1 to September 30 in that portion of Scallop Fishing Area 28A that is within six nautical miles of the shores of Annapolis and Digby Counties and lying between a line bearing 342° true from Latitude 44°48′52″N., Longitude 65°32′21″W. (East Breakwater, Parkers Cove, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia) and a line bearing 342° true from Latitude 44°29′56″N., Longitude 66°06′30″W. (Sandy Cove, Digby County, Nova Scotia) but not including the waters of Digby Gut and Annapolis Basin described in subsection (3).

  • (4.1) No person shall fish for scallops by means of a scallop drag during the period beginning on April 1 and ending at 08:00 on the second Tuesday in January next following in that portion of Scallop Fishing Area 28B (the waters in the area of Grand Manan Island) bounded by straight lines joining the following points in the order in which they are listed:

    PointNorth LatitudeWest Longitude
    144°50′00″66°50′06″
    244°37′03″66°57′00″
    344°32′03″66°55′02″
    444°28′09″66°57′06″
    544°28′02″66°53′09″
    644°28′09″66°49′09″
    744°32′10″66°39′25″
    844°38′00″66°39′00″
    944°47′04″66°42′00″
    1044°50′30″66°47′00″
    1144°50′00″66°50′06″
  • (4.2) No person shall fish for scallops by any means during the period beginning on April 1 and ending at 08:00 on the second Tuesday in January next following in that portion of Scallop Fishing Area 28B lying in the Bay of Fundy bounded by the Canada/United States Boundary; a straight line joining a point on the Canada/United States Boundary at Latitude 45°04′33″N., Longitude 67°05′45″W. to a point on Joe’s Point on the coastline of New Brunswick at Latitude 45°04′33″N., Longitude 67°04′56″W.; the coastline of New Brunswick; and straight lines joining the following points in the order in which they are listed:

    PointNorth LatitudeWest Longitude
    145°11′45″65°54′20″
    245°01′30″66°27′00″
    345°00′00″66°47′30″
    444°57′30″66°54′00″
    544°55′42″66°56′36″
    644°54′35″66°58′10″
  • (5) During the period May 1 to October 31, no person shall fish for scallops by any means in that portion of Scallop Fishing Area 29 bounded by the coastline of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, and straight lines joining the following points in the order in which they are listed:

    PointNorth LatitudeWest Longitude
    144°09′25″64°34′02″
    244°09′20″64°33′45″
    344°08′05″64°31′58″
    444°08′13″64°31′37″
    544°03′30″64°25′25″
    644°25′00″63°57′00″
    744°35′25″64°00′00″
    844°38′10″64°03′54″
  • SOR/87-672, s. 4
  • SOR/93-61, s. 26(F)
  • SOR/94-59, s. 1
  •  (1) Subject to subsection (4), no person shall catch and retain or have on board a vessel any scallops the number of meats of which exceeds an average count of

    • (a) 72 meats per 500 g, where the scallops were caught in Scallop Fishing Area 28A, 28B, 28C or 28D during the period May 1 to September 30;

    • (b) 55 meats per 500 g, where the scallops were caught in Scallop Fishing Area 28A, 28B, 28C or 28D during the period October 1 to April 30;

    • (c) 52 meats per 500 g, where the scallops were caught in Scallop Fishing Area 22 or 24;

    • (c.1) 39 meats per 500 g, where the scallops were caught in Scallop Fishing Area 21;

    • (d) 45 meats per 500 g, where the scallops were caught in Scallop Fishing Area 25; or

    • (e) 33 meats per 500 g, where the scallops were caught in Scallop Fishing Area 1, 2, 11 to 20, 23, 26, 27 or 29 or in that part of Scallop Fishing Area 10 west of Longitude 55°10′W.

  • (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the average count shall be determined on the basis of eight or more samples of scallop meats, each sample weighing 500 g or more.

  • (3) For the purposes of subsection (1), any scallops caught and retained or any scallops or scallop meats on board a vessel shall be regarded as having been caught in the Scallop Fishing Area in which that vessel is permitted to fish under a licence or under a written authorization referred to in subsection 66(1).

  • (4) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person fishing for scallops

    • (a) under a licence for recreational fishing; or

    • (b) from a vessel less than 19.8 m in overall length in an area other than Scallop Fishing Area 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28A, 28B, 28C, 28D or 29.

  • (5) No person shall

    • (a) [Repealed, SOR/2017-58, s. 16]

    • (b) catch and retain or have on board a vessel in Scallop Fishing Area 28A, 28B, 28C or 28D any scallop unless the shell height of that scallop is 76 mm or greater.

  • SOR/87-672, s. 5
  • SOR/88-208, s. 1
  • SOR/91-225, s. 1
  • SOR/94-59, s. 2
  • SOR/2008-99, s. 3
  • SOR/2017-58, s. 16
 

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