While the total allowable catch (TAC) will remain the same, adjustments have been made to a number of management measures in the Unit 1 commercial redfish fishery management plan for the 2026/27 fishing season.
The TAC has been set at 60,000 tonnes (t), the same as it has been in the first two years since the commercial fishery reopened.
“In making this decision, the Minister considered the best available science, as well as the importance of supporting economic opportunities in a developing fishery. This includes increasing flexibility in management measures and improving access through the reserve allocation. This approach supports the sustainable use of the resource while balancing fishing opportunities among the different fleets of Atlantic Canada and Québec,” said a DFO media release.
Under the 2026/27 management plan, 9,000t has been deducted from the overall TAC and set aside as a reserve allocation. Of that, 6,000t, including the 3,000t made available on May 15, 2026 on an interim basis, are available for fishing between May 15 and December 31, 2026 and 3,000t has been set aside for fishing between January 1 and May 14, 2027, aligning with the opening of NAFO Subdivisions 3Pn and 4Vn. Any portion of the first tranche of 6,000t of the reserve not allocated by December 31, 2026 will be carried forward and made available for the remainder of the season.
To access the reserve, harvesters must have fished at least 75 per cent of their primary allocation(s). Indigenous communities and organizations are exempt from this requirement. All requests for access to the reserve are subject to DFO approval.
“No experimental allocation is planned for 2026–2027, reflecting the transition to full commercial access following the removal of the spring redfish spawning closure,” said DFO.
The offshore mobile gear fleet sector (vessels >100’) has been allocated 58.69 per cent (29,931.9t) of the remaining 51,000t TAC. The allocation for the inshore mobile gear fleet sector (vessels <65’) is 14.84 per cent for 7,568.4t. The midshore mobile gear fleet sector (vessels 65–100’) received 5.72 per cent (2,917.2 t), with 0.75 per cent (382.5 t) allocated to the inshore fixed gear sector as a bycatch. The Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence shrimp harvesters and Indigenous communities and organizations were each allocated 10 per cent of the TAC (5,100.0t).
The department will use established bycatch caps for certain Gulf of St. Lawrence stocks subject to rebuilding plans to guide management of the Unit 1 redfish fishery that are distributed proportionately to the allocations.
“The department will monitor bycatch. Once a fleet reaches the caps… the department will assess whether additional bycatch allowance can be re-allocated. Otherwise, the fishery could be closed to that fleet for the remainder of the fishing season. DFO will apply a flexible, risk-based approach to ensuring bycatch caps established in the rebuilding plan are respected.”
The 2026/27 management plan includes adjustments to certain management measures to increase flexibility and improve access, while maintaining strong monitoring and conservation measures, said DFO.
For the 2026/27 fishing season, 4RST is open year-round (May 15 – May 14), 3Pn and 4Vn is open January 1 – May 14, and the spring redfish spawning closure has temporarily been removed.
There are no changes from the 2025/26 season in fishing area restrictions, gear type, dockside monitoring, at-sea observer coverage, bycatch limit of one per cent per trip for each of white hake, American plaice and winter flounder in NAFO division 4T, bycatch limit of one per cent per trip for cod and Greenland halibut in all Unit 1 and bycatch limit of two per cent per trip for Atlantic halibut in all Unit 1.
According to preliminary data as of June 17 from DFO, a total of 10,711 tonnes of redfish was landed during the 2025/26 season, with a landed value of $3,890,947. There were 42 active licence holders and 32 active vessels who made 218 fishing trips.
A full stock assessment for Units 1 and 2 redfish was conducted in March 2025 and a 2026 stock update was completed for Unit 1 only, as there was no survey in 2025 for Unit 2, said Axel Rioux, DFO communications.
According to the latest scientific advice, based on the 2025 survey in Unit 1, the spawning stock biomass of the redfish species Sebastes mentella remained in the healthy zone of the Precautionary Approach Framework and at a high level relative to reference points, although it has declined from peak levels observed around 2020. The spawning stock biomass of the Sebastes fasciatus redfish species was still much less abundant and while its overall status is uncertain, current indicators suggest that its biomass would correspond to the healthy zone.
In Unit 2, 2024 survey results show that the biomass of S. mentella larger than 22 cm reached its highest level since the beginning of the time series in 2000, while the biomass of S. fasciatus of the same size class was at its lowest level on record.
“Redfish have ‘sporadic recruitment’ meaning they have one or a few years where there are strong year classes followed by many years where few new fish are added to the stock. Therefore, the population of Units 1 and 2 redfish stocks is not expected to continue to be as high over the medium to long term,” said Rioux.
