Science Advisory Report 2014/016

Assessment of Northern Shrimp stocks in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2013

Summary

• Since the establishment of a precautionary approach in 2012, the TAC has been adjusted annually in each area by a decision rule. In 2013, the TAC was increased by 15% in Estuary and Sept-Iles and reduced by 9% in Anticosti and 10% in Esquiman.
• In 2013, a total of 32,160 t was landed against a TAC of 33,112 t.
• The same areas are fished by shrimp harvesters from one year to the next. Since 2003, total fishing effort has been slightly below the historical average.
• The fishery's standardized catch rate decreased in Estuary from 2007 to 2010 and was average thereafter. In Sept-Iles, the catch rate has decreased since 2007 but remained above the historical average in 2013. It has been consistently stable and high since 2005 in Anticosti and Esquiman.
• DFO's survey biomass index decreased in the Estuary, Sept-Iles and Anticosti between 2007 and 2011 and remained stable thereafter. In Esquiman, the biomass index has been stable since 2007.
• The exploitation rate index increased in Estuary and Sept-Iles but decreased in Anticosti and Esquiman.
• The demographic structures show that males likely to change sex during the winter of 2014 were well represented in 2013 survey in Sept-Iles, Anticosti and Esquiman, but not in the Estuary. The recent year classes (2010 and 2011) seemed to be of low abundance in Estuary, Sept-Iles and Anticosti, but of average abundance in Esquiman.
• Bycatches represent between 1.0 and 2.6% (in weight) of Northern Shrimp catches for the period of 2000 to 2013. Estimated total catches for each species in these bycatches represent less than 1% of the biomass estimates in the DFO survey for each of them.
• The main indicator of stock status is calculated from the indices obtained from the summer fishery and the research survey. This indicator shows that the stocks were in the healthy zone in 2013. However, relative to 2012, the stock status indicator in 2013 decreased by 45%, 25% and 12% in Estuary, Sept-Iles and Esquiman, respectively, and increased by 19% in Anticosti.
• Harvest guidelines were established according to the main indicator and its position in relation to the stock status classification zones (healthy, cautious and critical) in compliance with the precautionary approach. According to the guidelines, the projected harvest for 2014 is 802 t for Estuary, 10,570 t for Sept-Iles, 9,100 t for Anticosti and 8,248 t for Esquiman.
• Decision rules are agreed to calculate TAC from the main stock status indicator.

This Science Advisory Report is from the January 23, 2014 meeting on Assessment of Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence Shrimp Stocks. Additional publications from this meeting will be posted on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science Advisory Schedule as they become available.

Complete document (PDF, 1,491 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.