Science Response 2009/006

A Review of the Harp Seal Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for 2009

Context

Harp seals, Pagophilus groenlandicus, are the most abundant pinniped in the northwest Atlantic with an estimated total population size in 2005 of 5.8 million (95% CI= 4.1-7.6 million) (Hammill and Stenson 2005). Since 2003, the Canadian commercial harp seal harvest has been managed under an Objective Based Fisheries Management (OBFM) approach which incorporates the principle of the Precautionary Approach. Under this approach, precautionary reference levels are identified and are associated with pre-agreed management actions that are to be enacted if the population is estimated to decline further (DFO 2003). Under OBFM, the management objective is to set harvests that will ensure an 80% probability (L20) that the population will remain above the precautionary reference level (N70) of 4.1  million animals. The limit reference level for this population, also known as a conservation reference level, has been set at N30 or 1.7 million animals. In evaluating the impacts of different harvest levels on the population, reported harvests by Canadian and Greenland hunters, losses due to animals struck but not landed or reported, bycatch in fishing gear, changes in reproductive rates, and unusual mortality due to poor ice conditions are taken into account (Hammill and Stenson 2005).

Complete document (PDF, 35 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.