Science Response 2016/017
Spawner abundance and biological characteristics of Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2015
Context
The Striped Bass population of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence has increased in abundance from less than 5,000 spawners in the late 1990s to as many as 255,000 spawners in 2013. Due to conservation concerns, commercial, recreational and aboriginal fisheries for Striped Bass were closed between 1996 and 2000. A small number of food, social, and ceremonial (FSC) fisheries were reinstated in 2012 and allocations of Striped Bass to aboriginal groups have gradually increased since then. With continued requests for additional access to southern Gulf Striped Bass, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Gulf Ecosystems and Fisheries Management branch requested an update on the size of the spawning stock and information on biological characteristics to 2015. This Science Response Report results from the Science Response Process of February 19, 2016 on Striped Bass - update estimates of spawner abundance, biological characteristics and fisheries catches and harvests for 2015. The report also provides preliminary results from a Striped Bass diet study that was conducted during 2013 to 2015 in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.
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