BC Crab Fishery Overview
The BC Dungeness crab fishery has 220 “R” licenses participating. Vessels range in size between 16’-60’. On the south coast the boats tend to be smaller (<35’) and manned by one to three persons. Many of the inshore crabbers are very fast, capable of 30 knots or more. On the North Coast the vessels are larger (>35’) and are designed to withstand the open and frequently rough waters of Hecate Strait
The coast is divided into seven management areas. Hi-Gear Seafood obtains its crab from areas E and H. Area E is the west coast of Vancouver Island and Area H stretches from Victoria almost all the way to Campbell River on the east side of the island. Each area has its own association and each association elects a person to represent them on the Crab Sectoral Committee(CSC). The CSC is chaired by Fisheries Canada meets once or twice a year to discuss crab management issues. At this time efforts are being made to form a coast wide association known as the BC Crab Fisherman’s Association.
A few years ago, Electronic Monitoring (EM)was introduced to the fleet. This coincided with the implementation of Trap Quota (TQ) as it was clear that enforcement was essential. TQ was needed as the fishery got to the point where there were simply far too many traps being fished. In area A (Haida Gwaii) TQ is based on the length of the vessel. In all other areas a cap is placed on the total number of traps per area divided by the number of vessels electing to fish there.
EM works like this. Each vessel is equipped with a black box for processing data. Connected to this box are a GPS antenna, hydraulic pressure sensor and a wand for scanning radio tags. Each crab trap has a uniquely numbered “tag” that is scanned as the trap comes aboard. At the same time, the hydraulic sensor registers a “spike” that should that must coincide with the number and timing of tags scanned. Meanwhile, the GPS component tracks the vessels location, course and speed. In addition, in area A cameras record all deck activity. Area A regulations stipulate that each trap fished must have its own float. The radio tags are embedded in the float which is scanned upon hauling.
A great deal of thought, time and effort has gone into ensuring that the Dungeness fishery is self sustaining.
When we started crabbing back in the 1980’s there were very few rules one had to follow. Licenses were available for a song and as a result there were many hundreds of participants in the business. There was no limit on the amount of gear one could fish and virtually no method of making the fishermen accountable.
Time have certainly changed and clearly for the better in the context of perpetuating this valuable resource.
The first major change to the fishery occurred in 1990 with the introduction of limited entry licensing. Licenses that had not reported a set amount of landings in each of three consecutive years were permanently disqualified from fishing crab. This brought the number of licenses down to around 220 for the entire B.C. coast. Vessel size is restricted to the physical length of the license which helps to prevent over capitalisation and reduce overall fishing effort.
Crab traps were originally equipped with one 100 mm escape ring. The idea here is to allow smaller and female crabs as well as other bycatch an opportunity to leave the trap. This results in reduced handling of crab that are not harvestable anyway, and helps to ensure their survival. Recently many areas moved to go to two escape rings of 105 mm to enhance this management tool.About ten years ago “rot cord” was introduced into the trap closing mechanism. This is comprised of a single loop of #120 untreated cotton twine. The concept is simple but highly effective. When a trap is lost to the fisherman the rot cord disintegrates over the course of a few weeks. Eventually it breaks, allowing the lid to open and the trap occupants to go on their way. “Ghost fishing” is thus prevented.
Retention of female crabs is illegal for obvious reasons. There is also a regulation in place to curtail the retention of soft shell crab. Soft shell crab are very vulnerable and not marketable but the temptation is there for a few fishermen so a regulation had to be introduced. Conservation officers are equipped with a tool called a durometer. Adopted from the plastics industry, a durometer measures the tensile strength of the crab carapace.
In a further effort to limit the handling of soft crab a rule was introduced in 2009 limiting fishermen to one gear rotation per week during the major soft shell period in February through April. In area A fishermen pay for sampling of the crab stocks to determine an opening date that protects soft shell stocks.
Over the years record keeping (logbooks) has become mandatory. The logbook must be carried on board and fishermen must record GPS coordinates, depths fished, type of bait, statistical areas fished, number of daily trap hauls and of course the amount of legal crab retained. This data must be submitted monthly for keypunch into the DFO database. Failure to comply can result in charges and denial of license privileges.
Electronic Monitoring (EM) was introduced to the fishery a few years back. Each vessel is equipped with a “black box” that records vessel position, speed, and the number of trap hauls. Each trap is equipped with a chip which, when scanned by the crew, records a number specific to each trap. This data is recorded on an SD card which must be submitted at the end of each month to a private service provider. In terms of sustainability this tool is reasonably effective at making sure trap quotas are not exceeded and that vessels stay out of areas closed to commercial fishing.
Crab fishermen understand the importance of nurturing the resource that feeds them. A number of the above restrictions came about as the result of collaborative consultation between industry and the government and at the suggestion of fishermen.
Long live the crab fishery!
