Science Advisory Report  2011/068

Assessment of the Arctic Surfclam (Mactromeris polynyma) Stock on Banquereau in 2010

Summary

• Arctic Surfclams are long lived and slow growing.  If the resource were to be depleted, it would take a long time for stock recovery.
• There is evidence of incoming recruitment, which is expected to enter the fishery in the near (over the next 5 years) and longer term (approximately 10 years). Overall, there is a broad range of ages present in the population, which indicates that the fishery is not dependent on incoming recruitment.
• Clam dredges have an immediate impact on the substrate and benthic organisms. There continue to be uncertainties about the long term impacts of dredges on overall benthic productivity. Hydraulic clam dredge fisheries occur on fairly mobile, well-sorted sand, which helps mitigate the overall impact on some elements of the benthic community.
• The proportion of clam species caught in the Arctic Surfclam fishery is spatially variable, and bycatch of non-clam species is low.
• The framework for Arctic Surfclam (2007) recommended a constant F approach, and the 2007 assessment recommended a target F of 0.33M.
• The current fishable biomass estimate (1,150,585 t) is highly uncertain due to the large confidence interval around the survey dredge efficiency (21-86%). This should be taken into consideration in the harvest strategy, including development of reference points and harvest control rules.

This Science Advisory Report has resulted from a Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Regional Advisory meeting of October 19-20, 2011, on the assessment of Arctic Surfclam on Banquereau. A meeting to develop the framework for this assessment was held February 1-3, 2011. Additional publications from this process will be posted as they become available on the DFO Science Advisory Schedule.

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