Research Document 1998/61

A description of the 1997 Atlantic cod fishery in NAFO Division 3Ps from port sampling and fishery observer records with a comparison to the sentinel and food fisheries

By D.W. Kulka and T. Inkpen

Abstract

Length, maturity and ageing samples were collected from the inshore trap, gillnet, line trawl and handline fisheries and the offshore otter trawl fishery by port samplers and fishery observers. While there were significant differences in size of fish caught by different gears, fish size generally showed little variation among areas and months within each gear type. Differences were found between time periods for the 3Psh otter trawl fishery, and between the 3Psc sampling quadrants for trap and linetrawl samples. Placentia Bay fish tended to be slightly larger than in other areas for linetrawl and handline, and catches showed a higher percentage of older fish. Otter trawl catches from the shallow southern portion of St. Pierre Bank and From the Halibut channel were very large averaging 72 cm. Inshore trap catches, at the other end of the scale averaged only 52 cm. An analysis of maturities of the catch indicates that the first part of the fishery in Placentia Bay took place during the peak spawning period in late May and early June. Analysis of the observed offshore fishing locations shows that three areas were fished, 1) northwest corner of St. Pierre Bank where fishing was limited and catch rates were low, 2) south Halibut Channel where catch rates were moderate and 3) south central St. Pierre Bank centred on Lat. 45 35, Long 55 41 where catch rates were highest averaging 5 tonnes per hour. Many sets have the same starting position indicating that the same area was repeatedly trawled. The effort covered 110 km² but where catch rates exceeded 5 t per hour covered only 65 km². This suggested that the fished cod consisted of a rather small but dense school. This school is even smaller than the 6 by 18 km dimension since over the period of the fishery, it was moving, with the fishing effort following it. The other two observed offshore areas fished, to the southeast in the Halibut Channel and to the northwest south of the Hermitage Channel comprised even smaller, lower density schools although high catch rates (average 7 t per hour) were achieved for a period of five days in late Nov. and early Dec. in Halibut Channel.

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