Research Document - 2015/055

2014 Assessment of Newfoundland East and South Coast Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus)

By Bourne, C., F. Mowbray, B. Squires, and J. Croft.

Abstract

The assessment of Newfoundland east and south coast Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus) stock complexes considered data to the spring of 2014. A stock status index was provided for the Bonavista Bay-Trinity Bay (BBTB) and Fortune Bay (FB) stock areas where an annual research gillnet program provides an ongoing index of abundance; stock updates were provided for the White Bay-Notre Dame Bay (WBNDB) and St. Mary’s Bay-Placentia Bay (SMBPB) stock areas based on commercial samples, fisher observations and when applicable, abundance indices from adjacent stock areas. During the 2000s the spawning stock composition of most stock complexes has shifted toward a higher proportion of fall spawners, and spring spawning times have peaked later in the season and in early summer. In addition, there has been an increasing occurrence of herring during spring offshore surveys on the Grand Banks over the past decade. It is suspected that these changes are largely environmentally driven.

Stock status was considered positive in both WBNDB and BBTB in 2014. In both areas the 2008 fall spawner and 2009 spring spawner year classes accounted for a large proportion of landings and fall spawners comprised 65 % of the catch. Fishers in both areas reported an increasing perception of abundance from 2012 to 2013 and research gillnet catch rates in BBTB were the highest in 7 years in 2014. Recruitment of age 4 fish in BBTB was average for fall spawners and high for spring spawners in 2013. Stock status in SMBPB was given an uncertain evaluation as a relatively inactive commercial fishery has led to a low number of biological samples and therefore a high degree of uncertainty in the catch at age. Purse seine fishers in the area reported increasing abundance in 2013 whereas fixed gear fishers reported a decrease. The stock status of the FB complex was negative as commercial landings and research gillnet catch rates have declined in recent years, fixed gear fishers consistently indicate decreasing abundance and the age distribution of fish caught in both the commercial fishery and research gillnet program is highly skewed toward older (age 11+ spring spawners). In addition, there has been extremely poor recruitment of both spring and fall spawners in the area since 2002.

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