Science Response 2016/030

Scallop Fishery Area/Time Closure to Protect Cod Spawning Aggregations in 5Z (Georges Bank)

Context

The requirement to account for all fishing mortality of Georges Bank Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) in Canada has led to efforts by the offshore scallop fishery to reduce cod bycatch. Along with active avoidance protocols adopted by the offshore scallop fleet, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has implemented area/time closures from early February to the end of March since 2005 to reduce bycatch and minimize disturbance to spawning aggregations of cod by the offshore scallop fishery on Georges Bank. To assist resource managers in determining appropriate area closures for the offshore scallop fishery on Georges Bank during the cod spawning seasons, fisheries management asked the following question: “What does a review of Eastern Georges Bank (unit areas 5Zj and m) cod distribution, particularly at spawning time, reveal about the spatial trends of the species and its overlap with the offshore scallop fishery? Highlight potential areas of high 5Zjm cod concentration using the cells previously defined and used.”

This document provides information on the spatial distribution of cod abundance on Eastern Georges Bank during the spawning period based upon the DFO February/March Georges Bank Research Vessel (RV) survey and its overlap with scallop catches on the Canadian portion of Georges Bank. In the 2013 analysis, the most recent 10-year spatial distribution of cod was compared to the whole time series (starting in 1996). The results of this analysis showed that a change in distribution had occurred (DFO 2013). It was determined that using the most recent 10-year moving window to examine the spatial trends of cod distribution during the spawning period should achieve the objective of reducing cod bycatch and disturbance of spawning aggregations. Therefore, this analysis uses data on cod distribution from 2006 to 2015.

This Science Response Report results from the Science Response Process of January 12, 2016, on the Status Update for Scallop Fishery Area Closures to Protect Cod Spawning Aggregations on Georges Bank.

Complete document (PDF, 191 KB)

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