Science Advisory Report 2009/038

Assessment of Georges Bank Scallops (Placopecten magellanicus)

Summary

• The 2008 total allowable catch (TAC) was 5,500 t for zone ‘a’ and 400 t for zone ‘b’. Total reported landings were 5,498 t for zone ‘a’ and 358 t for zone ‘b’.
• The offshore scallop fleet fished primarily fresh scallop products until 2002, when freezer trawlers were incorporated into the fleet. In the first year of fishing, the freezer trawlers landed 775 t or 12% of the total landings. In 2008, the freezer trawlers landed 3,776 t or 69% of the total landings from zone ‘a’ and 265 t or 74% of the total landings from zone ‘b’.
• The commercial catch rates declined from 2007 to 2008 but were still above the long-term average.
• Bycatch of yellowtail flounder in 2008 was similar to that in 2007, whereas bycatch of cod and haddock declined, despite a two-fold increase in fishing effort. The target for observer coverage is 2 trips per month. In 2008, this represented 10% of the total hours fished.
• In 2008, indices of pre-recruit, recruit and fully recruited scallop abundance were at or above their respective 27-year median levels. Abundance of pre-recruit scallops was at the highest level observed since 1981, approximately 400 scallops/tow higher than the previous high in 1998.
• Fully recruited biomass, estimated to be 22,540 t (meats) in 2008, declined very slightly from the 2007 estimate (22,680 t) but was well above both the 27-year median biomass of 9,960 t and the recent lows in 2004 to 2006.
• The 2009 interim TAC is 5,500 t and harvest scenarios evaluated in the historical range of 1,500 t to 7,000 t are all predicted to yield increases in commercial biomass. For 2009, a harvest of 7,673 t, representing an exploitation rate of 0.25, is predicted to result in no change in biomass. The extremely large cohort of pre-recruits observed in the 2008 survey will recruit to the fishery in 2010-11, with an expectation of much higher commercial biomass levels at that time.

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