Research Document - 1999/009

Capelin (Mallotus villosus) catches and landings in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence for 1998

By F. Grégoire, G. Poirier and C. LeBlanc

Abstract

In 1998, capelin landings in NAFO (Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization) Divisions 4RST were 9,077 t, an increase of a little over 1,200 t from 1997. This rise is due largely to catches of some 800 t made in the course of an exploratory pair-trawl fishery in Chaleurs Bay. As in recent years, most of the 1998 capelin landings were made on the west coast of Newfoundland, where the purse seine season started without the delays that had characterized the early nineties. The year-by-year decline in fish size that had also been a major feature of this fishery has not been observed since 1996. Though capelin are still found in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, the recent expansion of the species in this area seems to have halted in 1998. The two abundance indices calculated from the catches of a bottom trawl abundance survey yield values that have been decreasing since 1996; in fact, the mean weights of the capelin catch per tow for 1998 were among the lowest calculated since 1990. However, these values are difficult to interpret because of the uncertainty surrounding this type of survey as a means of assessing the abundance of a pelagic species such as capelin. The capelin is undoubtedly one of the most important forage species in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf, and annual capelin consumption by its main predators is estimated at over a million tons. Mortality is very high, due mainly to predation and spawning activities. Fishing has little impact on abundance variation in the species. Given a certain lack of biological knowledge, the absence of an abundance survey directed at the species and capelin's key role in the marine ecosystem, any increase in catches over the next few years should be gradual.

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