Terms of Reference

Assessment of Quebec inshore waters Softshell clam

Regional Peer Review – Quebec Region

February 16, 2017
Mont-Joli, QC

Chairperson: Charley Cyr

Context

The softshell clam (Mya arenaria) is present along most of Quebec’s shoreline. Recreational harvesting of softshell clams has been practised for a long time in Quebec without being well documented. Commercial harvesting expanded on the North Shore during the 1970s and peaked in 2000. Commercial activities on the Upper North Shore are regulated by the number of licenses issued, a minimum legal harvest size, a season and a quota for landings by shellfish area. The management measures that are used for recreational harvesting are the season, minimum legal size and the daily number of clams harvested. Hand tools are the only permitted tools.

At the request of the Fisheries Management Branch, resource assessment is done every three years. Due to the small number of fishery activity, the last stock assessment review planned for 2014 did not take place. The last assessment of Quebec inshore waters Softshell clam was done in 2011. The reopening of a processing plant in 2015 rapidly increased the level of activity in the fishery. The objective of the review is to determine whether changes that have occurred in the stock status necessitate adjustments to management plans based on the conservation approach used.

Objectives

Provide scientific advice on the stock status of softshell clam in Quebec’s inshore waters for the 2017-2019 fishing seasons. This advice shall include

• Description of the species biology and its distribution in Quebec’s coastal waters;
• Description of the fishery including management measures specific to the shellfish areas, landings and fishing effort;
• Analysis of catch per unit effort from the commercial fishery;
• Analysis of data from the commercial dockside sampling program;
• Analysis of the research survey data realized in the Southern Pessamit Reserve shellfish area (N-05.1.3.1) in 2014 and in the Banc Marie-Marthe (N-04.1.2.1) and Baie des Plongeurs (N-04.1.3, Preliminary data) in 2016.
• Determination of the monitoring process of these populations for the interim years
• Identification and prioritization of research projects to be considered for the future;
• Perspectives for the 2017-2019 fishing seasons based on indicators derived from fishing and research activities.

Expected publications

• Science Advisory Report
• Research document
• Proceedings

Participants

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) (Science and Fisheries Management sectors)
• Fishing industry
• Provincial representatives
• Aboriginal communities/organizations