Science Advisory Report  2011/039

Assessment of the scallop fishery (Placopecten magellanicus) of the southern gulf of St. Lawrence

Summary

• Based on historical information, scallop stock abundance in the sGSL is low and only 25% of licence holders are active.
• The only index of abundance available is from the catch and effort data of the commercial fishery.
• Mandatory logbooks have been in effect since 2001 but there is incomplete compliance which adds to the uncertainty in the reliability of the landings and the effort data and the calculation and interpretation of CPUE data.
• Buffer zones were instituted for lobster conservation reasons not scallop stock rehabilitation. No new information was reviewed to assess the effectiveness of the buffer zone measures on lobster conservation.
• The benefits of area closures to scallop bed rebuilding have been documented in the literature but have not been examined in the sGSL. The closed areas in SFA 22, SFA21A, SFA21B when reopened, would be good case studies.
• In the sGSL, there was no proposal for a change in ring size so the change to population structure of the harvested scallop and consequential yield was not assessed for this document.
• Scallop dredging has little impact on habitat and on the bycatch of groundfish or crustaceans.

This Science Advisory Report has resulted from a Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Regional Advisory Meeting of February 17-18, 2011 on the Scallop stock assessment of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Additional publications from this process will be posted as they become available on the DFO Science Advisory Schedule

Complete document (PDF, 770 KB)

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