Atlantic Fisheries Research Document 1996/056
Revue des données historiques de pêche du flétan atlantique du golfe du St. Laurent (Divisions de l'OPANO 4RST) (1893-1995)
By D. Archambault; F. Grégoire
Abstract
The landings of Atlantic halibut from the Gulf reached their lowest level ever seen in 1995, the reported catches of 83 t representing barely one quarter of the 300 t preventive TAC. The fishery in 1995 was similar to previous years: (1) most of the landings were made by Quebec based vessels fishing in NAFO divisions 4S and 4T; and (2) most of the fishery took place in the summer with fixed gears, longlines, and gillnets. Since 1994, over two-thirds of the landings (by weight/by numbers?) are composed of halibut less than 81 cm in length. In 1995, the proportion of these small fish has substantially increased in the landings of shrimp trawls and gillnets. However, the size and age compositions of halibuts remained broad. The young cohorts born in 1987-1989, clearly visible in 1994, are well-represented in the landings of 1995. Although variable from year to year, growth rates of halibut in the Gulf is about 7,8 to 8,8 cm/year, being usually faster for the females.
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