Research Document - 2010/111

2009 Evaluation of 4VWX Herring

By M.J. Power, F.J. Fife, D. Knox, and G.D. Melvin

Abstract

Quota landings in 2007-2008 were 54,560t against a TAC of 55,000t for the SW Nova Scotia / Bay of Fundy component. Acoustic biomass estimates decreased and are near the lowest in the time series for each of the major survey areas in Scots Bay and on German Bank. The overall biomass estimate in 2008 was the lowest in the time series. This assessment indicates little improvement from the low level of the resource noted in recent assessments. A harvest strategy that exercises continued caution to facilitate further rebuilding is strongly recommended.

There was a decrease in landings from 5,400t to 920t from the offshore Scotian Shelf banks mainly due to weather conditions, fish not being available to the purse seine gear and high fuel prices. There was no midwater trawl activity in the offshore area in 2008 and only limited by-catch of herring from bottom trawl gear. Herring abundance in the summer bottom trawl research survey is at a low level after a decade of high values but is not considered indicative of overall abundance. There is no acoustic survey information for the offshore area although industry has been encouraged to explore and undertake structured surveys.

The recorded landings in the 2008 gillnet and trap net fisheries along the coast of Nova Scotia showed a 30% decline from 2007. There were reductions in surveyed acoustic biomass in the Halifax/Eastern Shore and Little Hope areas from the previous year. Surveys were also completed near Glace Bay but there were few spawning herring documented or catch reported. No herring surveys took place in the Bras d’Or Lakes. Given the current situation of reduced or below average biomass in all areas the “survey, assess, then fish” protocol should be applied.

The latest landings for the 2008 New Brunswick weir and shutoff fishery were 6,400t and are the lowest recorded catch since 1963. The success of this passive fishery is historically unpredictable, and catches are inherently susceptible to many natural variables in addition to abundance. These fish have been considered to be a mixture of juveniles, dominated by those originating from NAFO Subarea 5 spawning components, and are therefore excluded from the SW Nova Scotia / Bay of Fundy component assessment and quota.

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