Science Advisory Report  2012/055

Assessment of the Green Sea Urchin Fishery in the Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2011

Summary

• Annual green sea urchin landings in Quebec were sporadic and generally low (< 150 t) until 2002. Since 2003, they have been steady at over 340 t and peaked at 762 t in 2007. Although landings have been reported for Areas 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 14 since 1991, they have either been intermittent or insignificant. Over 98% of landings cumulated since 2003 originate from Areas 8 and 9.

Area 9

• Harvesting is currently concentrated at the mouth of the Saguenay; however, there are significant variations in the spatial distribution of fishing effort and yields within this sector. This is a healthy situation because effort has stabilized to an acceptable level and landings and CPUEs are increasing. It would be a good idea to continue to use the measures currently in place.

Area 8

• This area was traditionally harvested at the eastern tip of Île Verte and, since 2008, from the southeastern side of the eastern tip of Île aux Lièvres and of Battures de l’Île Blanche. Fishing effort has increased significantly in recent years, primarily due to increased harvesting at Île aux Lièvres. This decreased, however, in 2011.
• Landings from Île Verte fluctuated over the last four years, while those from Île aux Lièvres increased significantly from 2008 to 2010, and then decreased in 2011 to a level similar to that reported in 2009. The drop in annual CPUE (measured in kg/diver-hour) from 2007-2008 to 2011 is largely due to a decrease in diver performance at Île aux Lièvres (-48%) since 2008. Diver performance at Île Verte is variable, with no apparent trend. The mean size of landed sea urchins has varied over the years; however, there is no apparent trend with respect to fishing area or site.
• At Île aux Lièvres, the decrease in diver performance and the seemingly high harvest rate in the area fished are consistent and suggest that the mean catch level in this area since 2008 is not sustainable. Catch reduction is recommended. Furthermore, as the beds harvested south of Île aux Lièvres are partially reliant on the sea urchin population north of the island, any significant fishing development in the north could reduce the biomass available in the south. At Île Verte, inconsistent diver performance over the past several years seems to indicate that the sea urchin population is withstanding the fishing pressure it is under and suggests that the mean catch level for this area is sustainable.

This Science Advisory Report is from the meeting of June 7, 2012, on the Assessment of the Green Sea Urchin Fishery in the Estuary and Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2011. Additional publications from this process will be posted as they become available on the DFO Science Advisory Schedule.

Complete document (PDF, 967 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.