Research Document 1998/136

Assessment of 4X haddock in 1997 and the first half of 1998

By P. Hurley, G. Black, P. Comeau, and R.K. Mohn

Abstract

Landings of 4X haddock in 1997 were 6,527t against a TAC of 6,700t. The TAC for 1998 is 8,100t and landings in the first half of the year were 3,597t. Mean length in mobile gear landings remained about the same in 1997 as in 1996, but decreased slightly to 49.6cm during the first half of 1998 due to small fish encountered in 4Xn in March. Mean length in fixed gear landings increased slightly in 1997 and again in the first half of 1998 to 50.4cm. Abundance in the summer research vessel survey decreased to about the long-term mean in 1998. Mean number per tow of small haddock (less than 43cm) decreased but was still above the long-term mean; however the catch rate of market-size haddock remained below the long-term mean. Results of a resource abundance survey conducted by the ITQ fleet in cooperation with DFO Science for the fourth year in 1998 compare well with the research vessel survey results; however the industry surveys indicate that abundance and size composition trends in the inshore area off southwest Nova Scotia, not covered by the research vessel, differ from trends in the traditional survey strata. An index of abundance, which included the inshore area, was generated from the industry surveys and was incorporated into the assessment. Both the 1993 and 1994 year-classes are estimated to be strong and have resulted in an increase in spawning stock biomass from a low of 21,000t in 1994 to about 30,000t in 1998. It was demonstrated that there is still a strong tendency to over-estimate large year-classes, even at age 6, and the estimates of the 1993 and 1994 year-classes were adjusted downward in the projection. The F_0.1 yield in 1999 would be 9,000t. Spawning stock biomass would peak at 36,000t in 1999 and decrease to 34,000t at the beginning of 2000.

Complete document (PDF, 5,367 KB)

Accessibility Notice

This document is available in PDF format. If the document is not accessible to you, please contact the Secretariat to obtain another appropriate format, such as regular print, large print, Braille or audio version.