Stock Status Report 2003/015

Scallops in Quebec inshore waters in 2002

Summary

All areas

Scallops generally spawn in late summer, and the juveniles settle on the seabed in the fall. Meat weight yield varies over the reproductive cycle and is lowest during the spawning season. Subsequently, during the settling period, the juveniles are very sensitive to any disturbance of the sediment by fishing gear. For these reasons, it is recommended that scallop beds not be dragged from August to November.

In 2002, Quebec scallop landings totalled 143.3 t of meat, down 33 % from 2001; 69 % of the landings came from the North Shore, 20 % from the Gaspé and 11 % from the Magdalen Islands.

Magdalen Islands

• Landings from the traditional fishing grounds totalled 15.1 t in 2002, down 22 % from 2001.
• Restrictive measures enforced in recent years, including the creation of a spawning refuge, the gradual implementation of a minimum legal size limit of 100 mm and the reduction of fishing effort, are intended to help the declining wild stock to recover. But despite all these measures, the wild stock is not recovering. Consequently, we recommend that the refuge area (20E) be kept closed, and that Area 20A also be closed to commercial fishing for three to four years to allow the wild stock of the Magdalen Islands to recover.

Gaspé

• Landings in the Gaspé rose 15 % from 2001, to 28.7 t. This increase is attributed to the resumption of fishing south of Anticosti Island (Areas 18B and 18C). Landings from Chaleur Bay (Area 19A) totalled 13.8 t, down 20 % from 2001.
• For several years now, the smallness of the commercial catch of sea scallops in Chaleur Bay (Area 19A) has raised concerns about the state of this resource. Measures such as reducing the number of fishers in the area and gradually increasing the minimum legal size, with a target of 100 mm in 2003, have been taken in order to reduce fishing effort and preserve reproductive potential. These measures must be maintained, because they help to improve the state of the resource.
• It is also recommended that refuge areas be created for a period of four years in order to protect the concentrations of young scallops that were found in a research survey conducted in Chaleur Bay in 2002.
• Lastly, to continue reducing fishing effort, it is recommended that the use of offshore drags be prohibited in Area 19A. This gear is so efficient that its use would offset some of the progress already being achieved in this regard.

Île Rouge (Areas 16A1 and 17A1)

• The Île Rouge Iceland scallop bed straddles two fishing areas (16A1 and 17A1). In 2002, only the quota for Area 16A1 was fished. To promote a better distribution of fishing effort, it is recommended that these two areas be merged, so that both fishers can have access to the entire bed. For the moment, it would be desirable to maintain the current quota for this bed.

North Shore

• In 2002, landings from the North Shore totalled 99.5 t, which was 44 % less than in 2001. This decrease seems largely attributable to the low price that scallop were fetching on the market.
• In the Mingan area (16E), for the first time since the quota of 57.2 t was instituted in 1998, it was not reached. The low market price for scallop would appear to explain the decline in landings. The fishing yields in this area have generally been stable since 1998, and it is recommended that the status quo be maintained as regards management measures.
• Unlike in most of the North Shore fishing areas, landings in the Île à la Chasse area (16F) increased slightly, partly because of the temporary supplementary allocations granted to fishers in 2002. To promote the stability of the stock and conserve the resource, it is recommended that in 2003, harvesting be brought back down to a level similar to that in 2001 (27.5 t).
• The largest decline in landings along the North Shore was observed north of Anticosti Island (Area 18A), where the 2002 figure was down 64 % from 2001. But the decline in landings and the limited fishing effort in 2002 still did not reverse the downward trend in yields in this area. For this reason, the quotas should be reduced to their 1999 level (50.4 t), so that the biomass on the sea bottom can increase and the trend toward declining yields can be reversed.

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