Research Document - 2000/079

Catch-at-age of Northwest Atlantic harp seals, 1952-1999.

By G.B. Stenson, B.P. Healey, B. Sjare, and D. Wakeham

Abstract

Information on catch levels and the age structure of the catch (catch-at-age) is necessary for accurate population estimation and responsible management of the harp seal (Phoca groenlandica) in the Northwest Atlantic. Harp seals are hunted off southern Labrador and the northeast coast of Newfoundland (‘the Front’), in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (‘the Gulf’), along west and southeast Greenland, and the eastern Canadian Arctic. This report summarizes available harp seal catch and catch-at-age statistics from 1952 to 1999 for each of these areas. Between 1952 and 1971, catches taken at the Front and Gulf averaged in excess of 288,000 seals. Between the introduction of quotas in 1972 and the demise of the large vessel hunt in 1982, an average of 165,000 seals were taken annually. Catches decreased after 1982 and remained low, averaging approximately 52,000, until 1995. Annual catches again increased to over 240,000 between 1996 and 1999. Prior to 1980, catches in Greenland were consistently less than 20,000 animals. Data collected since 1980 suggest that Greenland catch increased steadily until 1996, declined slightly in 1997 but increased again in 1998 to approximately 89,000. Based on the first nine months of 1999, catches have continued to increase to over 100,000 harp seals. Limited data are available from the Canadian Arctic. However, current catch levels are assumed to be relatively small (<5,000). The age composition of catches at the Front and in the Gulf were estimated based on reported numbers of pups taken and biological sampling of seals one year of age and older (1+) taken from the commercial harvest and research samples. Estimates of the age composition of seals harvested in Greenland were obtained from biological samples collected in West Greenland between 1970 and 1993. The use of this age structure to represent the ages of seals taken in the current Greenland harvest is consistent with lengths obtained during recent sampling in Greenland.

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