Research Document - 2001/041

Status of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in Gander River, Notre Dame Bay (SFA 4), Newfoundland, 2000

By O'Connell, M. F., A. Walsh and N. M. Cochrane

Abstract

For the first time since the inception of the Gander River project in 1989, the counting fence did not operate in 2000. As an alternative to using absolute counts obtained from the counting fence for determining status of stock, estimates of total returns were based on relationships between counts at the fishway in Salmon Brook tributary and total returns to the counting fence during 1989-1999. Estimates were provided by means of a regression method and a simulation method using a nonparametric bootstrap re-sampling technique. Estimates from both methods were more or less similar. Total returns of small salmon in 2000 were the second lowest (lowest was in 1997) of the moratorium years (25% and 24% below 1999 for the regression and simulation methods; 29% and 28% below the 1992-1999 mean); estimated returns of large salmon were well below the record high for 1999 (62% and 58%) and below the mean for 1992-1999 (27% and 19%). The regression estimate for percentage of conservation egg requirement achieved was 83 compared to 87 for simulation, the second lowest of the moratorium years. There was a high degree of uncertainty around estimates for both methods. The percentage of conservation egg requirement achieved in Salmon Brook tributary in 2000 (86%) was also the second lowest of the moratorium years. The potential impacts of the retention of large salmon in the recreational fishery, on stock composition and egg deposition, are discussed.

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