Research Document - 2012/104
Assessment of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) in Salmon Fishing Area 16 of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence
By S.G. Douglas, G. Chaput, J. Hayward, and J. Sheasgreen
Abstract
Of the 39 Atlantic salmon rivers in Salmon Fishing Area 16, the Miramichi River is the largest and accounts for over 90% of the juvenile rearing habitat in SFA 16. Annual returns of adult salmon to the Miramichi River were monitored at estuarial trapnets and their abundance estimated with a mark and recapture experiment. The proportion of the conservation requirement attained was determined after accounting for the number of large (≥63 cm) and small (<63 cm) salmon harvested and lost from aboriginal and recreational fisheries. In 2011, returns of Atlantic salmon to the Miramichi River were estimated at 34,090 large salmon and 45,880 small salmon. The large salmon return in 2011 was among the highest return estimates since 1970 and the small salmon return was equivalent to the highest estimates since 1994. Returns of large and small salmon to the Southwest Miramichi River in 2011 were 27,870 (5th and 95th percentiles 17,140-58,150) and 31,710 (22,360-45,890) and enough to exceed the egg conservation requirement before fisheries (220%) and after accounting for removals from fisheries (212%). Similarly for the Northwest Miramichi River, the returns of large and small salmon were 5,147 (3,180-8,813) and 13,550 (9,976-18,680) and adequate to exceed the egg conservation requirement before (132%) and after fisheries’ removals (109%). Catches and counts of large and small salmon at provincial barriers and crown reserve angling stretches in 2011 were the highest or among the highest of the 28-year time series (1984-2011). The biological characteristics of adult salmon sampled at DFO index trapnets in the Miramichi River were updated for 2011 and the progressive change in run-timing from a dominant late-run to a dominant early-run over the last decade was presented. Salmon with wounds ranging from minor scratches to deep lacerations have been observed at DFO monitoring facilities in recent years but the cause remains unknown. Salmon destined for rivers of SFA 16 were intercepted in the mackerel drift gillnet fishery off of the coast of Prince Edward Island in June 2011 but the total mortality or effects on stocks is unknown. Juvenile salmon were sampled throughout the Miramichi watershed in 2011 and have remained at consistent levels since 1984 when significant changes in the management of the commercial and recreational salmon fisheries occurred. Estuarial trapnetting programs and electrofishishing surveys conducted by several First Nations, watershed associations, and the DFO indicate that adult salmon continue to spawn annually in other SFA 16 rivers (Tabusintac, Buctouche, Richibucto, and Kouchibouguacis) but estimates of adult returns have not been possible for several years. Reliable catch and harvest information from the recreational and aboriginal fisheries remain a significant constraint to the assessment of Atlantic salmon in SFA 16 and precludes any rigorous evaluation of current or potentially new management scenarios for these stocks.
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