Research Document - 2006/049

2006 Evaluation of 4VWX Herring

By Power, M.J., K.J. Clark, F.J. Fife, D. Knox, G.D. Melvin, R.L. Stephenson and L.M. Annis

Abstract

Landings in the southwest Nova Scotia/Bay of Fundy spawning component in 2005 of 48,900t were substantially (about 30,000t) lower than the previous year due to the reduced quota. There continues to be signs of deterioration in the state of the stock. Age distribution in the catch remained contracted, with a further decline in the proportion of ages 5+ in the fishery. The truncated catch at age and the rapid decline of individual year-classes indicates that total mortality may be considerably higher than estimated. The benefits of the reduced quota in 2005 have not been in place for a sufficient time to be reflected in the biological characteristics of the population.

The acoustic survey index from the spawning grounds in 2005 indicates a decline in spawning stock biomass (SSB) from 2004. A population model (calibrated with the German Bank acoustic index) indicates that fishing mortality (F) has been very high in recent years and that the current SSB is less than 100,000t. There has also been little progress towards defined conservation objectives in recent years and none are being met.

Landings of 5,260t from the 2005 offshore Scotian Shelf banks by purse seine, midwater and bottom trawl were below average since the fishery was reactivated in 1996. The 2005 fishery was dominated by catches of age 4 and 5 fish. The bottom trawl research survey catches, while reduced in 2005, remain high and herring were widely distributed on banks west of Sable Island.

There was an increase in surveyed acoustic biomass in both the Little Hope and Halifax areas after a decline in 2004. A survey with an acoustic recorder was completed for the first time in the Glace Bay area. Recorded landings showed an increase for the Little Hope area and decreases in the other main areas. The Bras d’Or lakes fishery was again closed and there was no sampling from this area.

There was a decrease in landings in the traditional New Brunswick weir and shutoff juvenile herring fishery to 13,000t from 20,700t in 2004 and there is a trend of decreasing landings over the past ten years.

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