Research Document - 2001/081

Status of the stock of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus L.) in NAFO Subareas 3 and 4 in 2000

By Grégoire, F., Morrier, G., Lévesque, C., Hudon, J.

Abstract

In 2000, Canadian landings of mackerel totalled 8 795 t, a large decline (nearly 8 000 t) from 1999. Part of the reason was a reduction in fishing effort, caused by the presence of a very large number of small mackerel only 1 year old (from the 1999 year class). In fact, 63% of all individuals caught were attributed to this year class. In US waters, landings totalled 4 748 t in the commercial fishery and 1 381 t in the recreational fishery. Since 1992, no offshore fishing by foreign vessels has been done in these waters. In Canadian waters, the largest landings of mackerel were recorded in Newfoundland (3 794 t) and Nova Scotia (2 710 t). The two main types of fishing gear used were purse seines and traps, with landings totalling 3 793 t and 2 454 t, respectively. The annual variations in the mackerel's condition closely follow the variations in the water temperature of the Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL). The spawning stock biomass values estimated by the Total Egg Production Method (TEPM) for each of the two passes in the annual abundance survey were 218 217 t and 66 001 t, for an average of 142 109 t, compared with 562 533 t and 169 510 t and an average of 366 022 t as estimated by the Daily Fecundity Reduction Method (DFRM). The average annual biomass values calculated for 1998 and 1996 by this latter method were 243 980 t and 443 095 t respectively. To improve the statistics on the mackerel fishery, logbooks should be distributed to all fishermen. The use of such a logbook would also make it possible to study the relationship of certain environmental variables to the distribution of the mackerel catch.

Complete document

Text, Tables and Figures 1-16 (PDF, 3,140 KB)

Figures 17-38 and Annexes (PDF, 2,650 KB)

Accessibility Notice

This document is available in PDF format. If the document is not accessible to you, please contact the Secretariat to obtain another appropriate format, such as regular print, large print, Braille or audio version.