Research Document - 2016/062

History of the assessment of southern Gulf of St. Lawrence Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) stocks to 2013

By C.H. LeBlanc

Abstract

This document was part of the information presented at a regional peer review of the assessment framework for the fall spawning component of Atlantic herring in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (sGSL) (NAFO Div. 4T). The stock area for the sGSL Atlantic herring extends from the north shore of the Gaspe Peninsula (Quebec) to the northern tip of Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia) and includes the Magdalen Islands. The two seasonal herring spawning components that are assessed for the sGSL are spring spawners and fall spawners. sGSL herring are harvested by an inshore gillnet fleet fishing in coastal waters and a purse seine fleet of a maximum of 12 seiners (>65’) fishing in deeper water. Since 1999, fall spawners have comprised 70% or more of the total catch in the sGSL. Market conditions have played a large role in determining catch levels in this fishery. There are approximately 3,000 herring bait licenses for personal use in the sGSL. In 2012 and 2013, there was an average of 712 actively fishing gillnet commercial licenses out of a possible total of 2,590 license holders. The assessment for each herring component currently provides a F0.1 fishing level calculation. Gillnet catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) and acoustic survey indices were used to calibrate the population models. Spawning stock biomass reference points consistent with the Precautionary Approach were derived for both spawning components in 2005. The latest assessment of the sGSL herring stocks in 2013 showed pathological problems including blocks of residuals and large retrospective patterns when fitting the current population model. Similar problems were encountered in past assessments of the sGSL herring stocks.

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