Research Document - 2001/048

The Capelin (Mallotus villosus) Fishery
in the Estuary and Gulf of St Lawrence
(Divisions 4RST) in 1999 and 2000

By Jean-Louis Beaulieu

Abstract

Annual variations observed in capelin landings are first and foremost triggered by market fluctuations. A change in market demand explains the nearly 50% drop in landings observed in 1999 and 2000 as compared with the 1998 level. This decrease was especially noticeable in 4R, as this division has the largest capelin fishery in the Gulf of St Lawrence.  Purse seine is the gear type used for most catches in this division. The examination of median dates of annual landings in the purse seine fishery showed that fishing activities were delayed progressively between 1986 and 1992 in unit areas 4Rb, 4Rc and 4Rd. A regional pattern is also apparent as of 1993, and it is related to the fact that the earliest spawning occurs in 4Rd and the latest spawning in 4Rb. Based on commercial samples and compared with 1998 findings, the size of the fish declined in 1999, and then increased slightly in 2000. In the early 1990s, capelin showed a gradual decline in size, which led to a premature halt to fishing in 1994 and the nearly complete closure of the fishery in 1995.

The increase in the percentage of occurrence of capelin computed from the groundfish abundance survey in the northern Gulf of St Lawrence points to an extension of the species' geographic range. Its range extension in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence, which has been observed since the early 1990s, continued in 1999 and 2000. In view of capelin's prominent role in the marine ecosystem, the lack of knowledge on its ecology and biology in the Gulf and the absence of an abundance survey for this species, any increase in catch levels must be limited and should be implemented gradually.

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