Proceedings 2014/048
Proceedings of the Pacific regional peer review on the Stock Assessment and Harvest Scenarios for Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) in British Columbia Waters for the 2013 and 2014 Seasons; January 29-30th, 2013
Chairperson and Editor: Sean MacConnachie
Summary
Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) from the Northeast Pacific (California Current) population has a distribution that can range between Baja California to southeast Alaska. In winter and spring months, most of the sardine population resides in waters off the California coast. Prior to and during summer months, large aggregations of sardine migrate from key spawning habitat to more northern waters, but migratory patterns can be affected by population size and oceanographic conditions. Typically, most sardines that migrate into British Columbia (BC) waters are the larger and older component of the population.
Fisheries & Oceans Canada has been applying a Fishery Management Framework using a harvest control rule that sets the annual total allowable catch (TAC) of sardine based on annually updated biomass estimates of age 1 year and older (1+) fish in the population, an estimated average seasonal migration rate of sardine into Canadian waters, and a regional harvest rate.
Since 1997, an index of the biomass of the migratory component of the sardine population has been determined from an annual summer surface trawl survey off the west coast of Vancouver Island. The index is based on average sardine densities observed for the region, measured in t/km³. Biomass estimates for unsurveyed areas have been calculated by extrapolating annual trawl survey densities to areas of current and recent fishing grounds.
Both DFO and the sardine fishing industry are interested in exploring alternative approaches to the provision of harvest advice that does not rely on the annual trawl survey. To address these multiple interests, both the provision of harvest advice and alternative approaches for the provision of harvest advice was examined.
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