Gaspésie lobster fishery enters MSC assessment

The fishery - which is concentrated on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec along the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Atlantic Canada - is represented by the Regroupement des Pêcheurs Professionnels du Sud de la Gaspésie (RPPSG), that includes the 160 license holders accounting for all the commercial harvest in the area.

The Gaspé lobster fishery operates baited traps to catch American lobster (Homarus americanus). The fishery typically operates in spring for up to 71 days, depending upon location. Conservation efforts include measures to control fishing effort such as the length of season, the number of licenses and the number and size of traps, as well as escape measures such as minimum and maximum legal sizes, biodegradable clips, escape vent and V-notching of berried females that are returned to the sea.

In 2013, fishermen landed 1,370 tonnes of lobster, accounting for one third of the lobster landed in Quebec.

Gaspé lobster is sold in different forms, but the principal product is the live lobster sold mainly in Quebec province, but also on other Canadian and United States markets.

O’neil Cloutier, executive director of Regroupement des Pêcheurs Professionnels du Sud de la Gaspésie (RPPSG), said: “The lobster harvesters work hard to protect their resource in our area, for their future and for the future well-being of the Gaspé region. We reduced the fishing pressure by restructuring the fishing fleet through license buyback. Also, we were the first lobster fishery to modernise its fleet by using electronic logbook to provide real-time, reliable data on bycatch and landings. We are thus confident to achieve MSC certification.”