Research Document 2019/054
An assessment of the American Lobster (Homarus americanus) stock status in Newfoundland (LFAs 3-14C)
By E. Coughlan, G. Evans, J. Pantin, W. Coffey and D. Stansbury
Abstract
The American Lobster (Homarus americanus) is distributed near shore around the island of Newfoundland and along the Strait of Belle Isle portion of the Labrador coast. Major life history events (i.e., molting, mating, egg extrusion, and hatching) generally take place during mid-July to mid-September, following the fishing season. The fishery is localized and prosecuted from small open boats during an 8-10 week spring fishing season. Traps are set close to shore, at depths generally less than 20 m. Fishing effort is controlled through restrictive licensing and daily trap limits. Regulations prohibit the harvest of undersized (<82.5 mm carapace length) and ovigerous (egg-bearing) lobster. In addition, there is a voluntary practice called v-notching, which involves cutting a shallow mark in the tail fan of an ovigerous female. The mark is retained for 2-3 molts and notched females cannot be retained in the fishery. The practice thus serves to protect proven spawners even when they are not brooding eggs externally. The number of licenses is currently around 2,450 and trap limits range from 100 to 300 depending on the Lobster Fishing Area (LFA). This stock was last assessed in 2013 and is currently assessed every three years. The present assessment of this stock is requested by Fisheries Management, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to provide current information on the status of the resource and provide the data that will be used in the updated Integrated Fisheries Management Plan. The LFAs were assessed based on four regions: Northeast (LFAs 3-6), Avalon (LFAs 7-10), South Coast (LFAs 11-12), and West Coast (LFAs 13-14). The key indicators for the assessment are reported landings, nominal effort, mean catch per unit effort (CPUE), and relative survival fraction. Total reported landings for Newfoundland have remained relatively stable since the 1960s, and were 2,750 t in 2015. Since 2010, landings have decreased in the Avalon, increased in the South and West Coast regions and have not changed in the Northeast. Nominal effort (based on active fishers, trap limits and fishing days) decreased by 45% since 2006 due to license retirements, fewer active fishers, shorter seasons, and trap limit reductions. Catch per unit effort has increased gradually over the past decade (2005-15). Most size frequency plots clearly show a sharp drop at legal size and few lobsters achieving the second molt class, indicating that most of the exploitable biomass is caught in the year of recruitment to the fishery. Survival of unprotected lobsters (males, non-ovigerous non-v-notched females), relative to protected lobsters (ovigerous females) is low. In addition, for lobsters within the legal size, large lobsters survive longer than small lobsters.
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