Research Document - 2001/020
Assessment of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence cod stock, February 2001
By Chouinard, G.A, Currie, L., Poirier, G.
Abstract
The directed cod fishery in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence was closed in September 1993. In 1999, a limited commercial fishery of 4T-Vn(N-A) cod was opened with a total allowable catch (TAC) of 6,000 tonnes. The TAC remained unchanged during 2000. This was apportioned among cod-directed, by-catch, sentinel and recreational fisheries. Total landings amounted to 5,792 tonnes. Population abundance in the 2000 annual research vessel survey indicated a decline over the estimate obtained in 1999. The trend in the research survey index since 1993 suggests that there has not been any increase in the abundance of the stock. Weights-at-age are low and natural mortality (M) appears to remain high. A value of 0.4 was again used in this assessment. The stock assessment indicates population biomass remains low, similar to the mid-1970s, and close to the lowest seen since 1950. The spawning stock biomass is estimated at 87,000 t, similar to recent years. Because of the low spawning biomass, recruitment has been well below the historical average over the last decade. The 1995 to 1997 year classes are estimated to be more abundant than those produced in 1993 and 1994 but the 1998 year-class is presently estimated as the poorest on record. Assuming continued high mortality and given the lower recruitment of recent years, catch projections now indicate the spawning stock biomass will not increase in 2001 even with no fishing. There would be about a 6% decline in spawning stock biomass if the TAC in 2001 remains at the 2000 level of 6,000 t.
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