GEAR-ON-DEMAND EXPERIMENTS
CHRONOLOGY
- In 2018/2019: 5 fishers tested different ropeless gears
- In 2020: 10 fishers were allocated a trawl of ten (10) traps each to experiment some fishing in closed areas
- In 2021: limited experimentation due to COVID limitations and lack of quota to fish
- In 2022: 19 fishers got 55 ropeless traps each to fish in closed areas; over 1000 ropeless traps were fished extensively in the fishing season
2022 Fishing season created ideal conditions for gear-on-demand experiments
- The size of the territory closed to fishing was the most important since the beginning of NARW measures
- The total quota allowed in the Southern Gulf of St-Lawrence was amongst the highest in recent years
- The crab was not trapping as well as expected causing a longer fishing season than expected with more trips in closed areas
Successful fishing activities in closed areas during the 2022
- Seventy-eight (78) fishing trips were made in closed areas ranging between 2 trips to 8 trips per fisher
- Over 450,000 lbs (203 MT) of snow crab was caught with ropeless gear
- 4 fishers caught over 50,000 lbs each
- 7 fishers caught between 15,000 and 50,000 lbs each
- 8 fisher caught between 2,000 and 15,000 lbs each
SMART BUOY
In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Blue Ocean Gear’s Smart Buoy technology is being used to track gear on the water, helping with whale entanglement mitigation efforts while providing snow crab fishers the means to monitor their gear and operate more efficiently. The buoys, equipped with GPS and other sensors, are capable of letting fishers know where their gear is at all times, and receive alerts if something anomalous happens. This can include gear moving far from where it was set, allowing it to be retrieved and preventing gear loss, or if it’s been lifted from the water, indicating potential gear theft if it’s someone other than the owner.
Reducing lost gear can help remove lines in the water off-season that would otherwise pose an entanglement risk as well. The buoys can also help in differentiating and locating potential entanglement events, allowing rescue teams to respond more quickly and reducing the likelihood of severe injury or death to the affected animal. They can also be used in conjunction with gear-on-demand technology, allowing more efficient retrieval after surfacing.
From the harvester’s perspective, the location of all their gear is now available to be displayed on their onboard chart plotter. This allows more efficient operations out on the water, saving fuel by being able to navigate directly to their gear, even in fog or inclement conditions. Being able to provide a fuel and cost savings to the fishers while also helping to fish more responsibly with whales in the area has enhanced the adoption of technology in the region.
Our involvement in research
Resarch Projects
Canada snow crab fishermen are working to reduce rope in the water column, tested ropeless buoys , “smart” snow crab trap using whale release rope , electronic monitoring to find the pots, hydrophones on traps to hear whales, rope identification method in gear, whale rescue training for disentanglement, etc.
We are involved in numerous projects related to the NARW and the mitigation of interactions with snow crab fishing gears.
Upcoming Projects 2022
EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTATION OF WHALE SAFE SNOW CRAB FISHERY USING ROPELESS TECHNOLOGY IN CLOSED AREAS WITH TRAWLS OF TRAPS
EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTATION OF WHALE SAFE SNOW CRAB FISHERY USING ROPELESS TECHNOLOGY IN CLOSED AREAS WITH TRAWLS OF TRAPS
EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTATION OF WHALE SAFE SNOW CRAB FISHERY USING ROPELESS TECHNOLOGY IN CLOSED AREAS WITH TRAWLS OF TRAPS
Goal is to accomplish further experimentations and trialing of alternative gear and fishing methods during the 2021 fishing season to support and facilitate the implementation of some form of commercial fishery for the 2022 fishing season in areas closed to fishing due to the presence of NARW in the Southern Gulf of St-Lawrence.
EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTATION OF A WHALE SAFE SNOW FISHERY USING WEAK ROPE WITH LOAD CELLS
EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTATION OF WHALE SAFE SNOW CRAB FISHERY USING ROPELESS TECHNOLOGY IN CLOSED AREAS WITH TRAWLS OF TRAPS
EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTATION OF WHALE SAFE SNOW CRAB FISHERY USING ROPELESS TECHNOLOGY IN CLOSED AREAS WITH TRAWLS OF TRAPS
Goal is to accomplish further experimentation and trialing to document and minimize the tensile strength needed in buoyed ropes to prosecute the snow crab fishery safely in the southern Gulf of St-Lawrence, including the utilization of weak ropes and Time Tension Line Cutters, under all probable loads and environmental conditions.
TRACKING VESSELS AND WHALES ACTIVITIES USING EMERGING ACOUSTIC TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODS
TRACKING VESSELS AND WHALES ACTIVITIES USING EMERGING ACOUSTIC TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODS
TRACKING VESSELS AND WHALES ACTIVITIES USING EMERGING ACOUSTIC TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODS
Goal is to produce high-quality acoustic recordings in a timely manner which will improve managers and fishers decision-making capabilities to mitigate vessels and whales encounters with snow crab fishing gear.
SMART BUOY
TRACKING VESSELS AND WHALES ACTIVITIES USING EMERGING ACOUSTIC TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODS
TRACKING VESSELS AND WHALES ACTIVITIES USING EMERGING ACOUSTIC TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODS
Goal is to produce high-quality acoustic recordings in a timely manner which will improve managers and fishers decision-making capabilities to mitigate vessels and whales encounters with snow crab fishing gear.
NOVEMBER 2020
Experimental Autumn snow crab fishery
A limited, experimental autumn snow crab fishery in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence was successful enough that an expanded fall season is being studied as a way to prevent conflict with migrating NARW in the region.
On November 15 2020, 40 traps were deposited at four different locations in this area with permission from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. A scientific fishing license was issued to the Association des crabiers acadiens, in collaboration with the Association of Professional Crabiers Acadians.
FISHERIES AND OCEANS CANADA SCIENCE PROGRAM
Visual Surveillance Efforts
Three DFO Science planes flying systematic surveys and clearing grids for management Surveys started April 25th As of November 1st: Twin Otter - 391 hours Cessna ZWF - 666 hours Cessna YOB - 345 hours 4 complete surveys of NW Gulf 10 surveys of the southern Gulf Broad scale survey of Scotian Shelf with highresolution coverage of critical habitats .
Project Leads: J.F. Gosselin, V. Harvey, J. Lawson, P. Goulet
Right Whale Imagery Catalogue
All 2020 NARW imagery from Canadian Government assets are collected, organized, catalogued Expanded in-season collaboration with NEAq and NOAA-NEFSC to provide updated: IDs, No. of individuals observed, injury and incident reporting etc. Preliminary # of Ind. identified to date = 120 (NEAq to validate IDs and complete analysis)
Project Lead: S. Ratelle
Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM ) Program
Multispecies monitoring | Glider deployment to Emerald Basin
Project Leads: J. Lawson, H. Moors-Murphy, Y. Simard, J. Xu
VIKING-WOW GSL 2020
6 buoys new SLGO and WhaleMap displays new artificial intelligence deep learning neural networks detector mid-May to November
Project Lead: Y. Simard
Fisheries Landscape Assessment of eastern Canadian waters
Integrated approach to assess entanglement risks Review and update all available fixed-gear fisheries data Developing a flexible analytical approach to quantify the scope of commercial fisheries and outlining assumptions for data-poor fisheries
Project Lead: D. Richard
Interannual variation in Calanus biomass and NARW distribution
Calanus biomass in the sGSL is monitored in June since 1982 on a 65 stations grid (Sorochan et al. 2019) • DFO systematic aerial surveys for NARW with full seasonal coverage since 2018 • Calanus distribution in June: potential for strong interannual variations (2018 vs 2019) • NARW mortalities : none in 2018, several in 2019 • Variations in ocean circulation is the key factor (freshwater, winds) • DFO’ Marine Mammal Sciences support a new project: • Development of an operational forecasting model of Calanus and NARW distribution in early summer in the Southern GSL .
Project Leads: S. Plourde and C. Johnson
Ocean Protection Plan NARW Noise Impacts Research Program
Objective: increase understanding of impacts of shipping noise on NARW Health, behaviour and response studies: 2 DTAGs (acoustic suction tags) deployed on NARW Photogrammetry drone flights, blow and biopsy samples collected Noise model development Noise-budget estimation for critical habitats and Emerald Basin Vessel noise signature estimation using VLA data Noise model validations NARW acoustic analysis Analysis to determine spatial/temporal distribution in critical habitats and the Scotian Shelf Collaborating with the Meridian group to develop a neural network upcall detector Developed metrics for sound impacts on NARW .
Current projects (2020+) include: Update LFDCS library to better detect NARW under high noise conditions such as seismic surveys G&C-funded graduate project to create a soundscape model in Placentia Bay to investigate noise impacts and PAM detection ranges
Project Leads: A. Wright, J. Xu,
OPP Whale Detection and Collision Avoidance
Objective: test whale detection technologies to inform the development of a realtime NARW detection system/network . Current projects include: G&C funding to eSONAR and Memorial University to develop near real-time PAM package + oceanographic profiling on a pop-up buoy system G&C funding Infrared Camera Detection System with WHOI Testing a profiling buoy with near real time detection capabilities
Project Leads: A. Vanderlaan, J. Lawson, and Y. Simard