Science Advisory Report 2009/021

Assessment of the Stimpson’s surfclam stocks of Quebec coastal waters in 2008

Summary

• The Quebec region has ten Stimpson's surfclam fishing areas, eight on the North Shore and two in the Magdalen Islands. In 2008, 10 permanent licenses and 8 exploratory licenses were issued in Quebec.
• Landings totalled 650 tons in 2008 and 99% of them were on the North Shore. Landings dropped by 30% between 2006 and 2007 due to a reduced fishing effort resulting from fishing licences that remained inactive. Therefore, areas 1B, 4C, 5A and 5B were hardly exploited in 2008. However, the quota was reached in areas 1A and 3B.
• In 2008, the average catch rates fluctuated between 149 and 884 kg/hm according to the area. The average from each area was either higher or equal to the 1998-2007 series mean.
• The annual proportion of exploited surfclam beds varies between 2% and 8% of the total area.
• The mean size of captured individuals remains stable on the main beds harvested.
• Capture and recapture experiments show that the Stimpson’s surfclam growth is very slow and that it has a long lifespan.
• The status quo is recommended in all areas, according to the decision rules established for adjusting quotas. These rules explain that a quota cannot be increased unless the quota has been reached consistently for five years and that the stock status indicators are stable or show an upward trend.

Complete document (PDF, 194 KB)

Accessibility Notice

This document is available in PDF format. If the document is not accessible to you, please contact the Secretariat to obtain another appropriate format, such as regular print, large print, Braille or audio version.