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Research Document - 2009/112

Total Removals of Northwest Atlantic Harp Seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) 1952-2009

By G.B. Stenson

Abstract

The Northwest Atlantic harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) is hunted for subsistence purposes in Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, and as part of a commercial catch in southern Canadian waters. In addition to reported catches, animals are killed but not landed or reported (‘struck and lost’), and are taken as bycatch in commercial fishing gear. Information on catch levels and age structure of removals are necessary for accurate population estimation and responsible management. The objective of this report is to summarize available estimates of removals for the period 1952-2009. Commercial and subsistence hunts account for the majority of the removals. Canadian commercial catches averaged around 288,000 harp seals prior to the introduction of quotas in 1972. Between 1972 and the demise of the large vessel hunt in 1982, an average of 165,000 seals was taken annually. Catches decreased after 1982 and remained low, averaging approximately 52,000, until 1995. Annual catches, consisting primarily of young of the year, increased to an average of 272,600 between 1996 and 2006. Beginning in 2007, catches declined due to ice conditions and poor markets, reaching a low of approximately 72,000 in 2009. Over the past decade, the vast majority of seals taken were between 1 and 3 months of age with over 98 % of the seals taken in the past five years being one year of age or less. Since 1980 Greenland catches increased relatively steadily to a peak of approximately 100,000 in 2000. Since then catches have varied slightly but averaged a little over 80,000. There are no recent estimates of the age structure of seals taken in Greenland but the available data indicate that a significant proportion of seals taken are adults. Catches in the Canadian Arctic are not well documented but appear to be low with likely fewer than 1,000 harp seals taken annually in recent years. Estimates of harp seal bycatch in the Newfoundland lumpfish fishery increased from less than 1,000 in the early 1970s to a peak of 46,400 in 1994. Since then, estimates of this type of bycatch declined to approximately 5,000 by 2003. Low numbers of harp seals (<100) are also caught in U.S.-based fisheries. In the absence of more recent data, we have assumed that the average level of bycatch observed in the previous five years is still occurring. Combining the various sources of mortality, the average total removals from 1952 to 1982 was approximately 388,000, but declined to 178,000 per year between 1983 and 1995. From 1996 to 2004, higher catches in Canada and Greenland resulted in average annual removals of 465,500. However total removals in 2009 was estimated to have declined to slightly over 250,000, due to the lower catches in Canada.

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