Eastern crabbers' associations are calling for an investigation into how the Department of Fisheries and Oceans manages the fisheries in light of a drastic cut in snow crab quotas announced last week.

At a news conference in Shippagan, N.B., on Wednesday, officials representing New Brunswick, Quebec and Prince Edward Island fishermen said they will ask the federal commissioner of the environment and sustainable development to investigate the management of the fishery since 2003.

For crabbers in New Brunswick, Quebec and Nova Scotia, it's a reduction that threatens their livelihood.

They contend former federal fisheries minister Robert Thibault's decision to increase the number of permanent fishermen in the southern Gulf of Saint Lawrence that year is largely to blame for the decrease in crab stocks, which prompted the latest cut in quotas.

Officials say the quotas appear to be a vengeful strategy against the fishermen's refusal to accept Thibault's management plan at that time. During a riot in Shippagan, angry mobs destroyed fishing boats, a crab processing plant and thousands of traps, and the local DFO office was ransacked.

The DFO cut the allowable catch of snow crab in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by 63 per cent last week in response to a decrease in stocks.

Recent research found crab stocks are down 57 per cent over last year.

New Brunswick holds close to 40 per cent of the crab quota, while Quebec has about 21 per cent, and P.E.I., 3.5 per cent.

Opening day for the snow crab fishery is April 16, weather permitting. The fishery is slated to close July 18.

With files from The Canadian Press