Research Document 1997/61
Evaluation of the stock status of 4WX herring
By R.L. Stephenson, M.J. Power, F.J. Fife, G.D. Melvin, S. Paul
Abstract
The 4WX management area contains a number of herring spawning areas which are grouped for assessment and management into three units: Southwest Nova Scotia/Bay of Fundy, Offshore Scotian Shelf Banks, and Coastal (South Shore, Eastern Shore and Cape Breton) Nova Scotia spawning components. In addition there are migrant herring from neighboring units, including juveniles taken in the Bay of Fundy (New Brunswick) weir fishery.
The SW Nova Scotia spawning component has declined in recent years. Landings in 1996 were the lowest in three decades, reflecting the lowest quota on record for this fishery. The fishery exhibited a poor age composition, dominated by a single (1992) year-class. Continuation of "in-season" management led to over 800 hrs. of surveying by industry vessels. The 190,000 t of spawning herring documented in this way was used as an estimate of minimum SSB. A sequential population analysis calibrated with larval abundance indicated about 300,000 t, but was considered a poor estimate of stock size, due to a weak fit to the tuning index.
Most of the 4VWX Coastal Nova Scotia spawning component suffers from poor documentation of the fishery (especially bait landings) and insufficient information to assess stock status. A study of the Bras D'Or Lakes spawning component suggests a decline in stock status.
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