Research Document - 2001/102

The Status of Redfish in SA2+Div. 3K

By D. Power

Abstract

The highest reported catch from this stock was 187,000 t in 1959. From 1961 to 1985 catches ranged between 15,000 t to 56,000 t and averaged about 27,000 t. Catches declined dramatically from about 29,000 t in 1985 to 280 t in 1991 when directed fisheries essentially ceased. In 1997 the stock was put under moratorium to direct fishing which is still in effect. Catches averaged about 160 t from 1998-2000 and are primarily the result of bycatch discarded from shrimp fisheries in the NAFO Div. 2GHJ and 3K areas. Approximately 2.5 million redfish in the length range from 5cm to 19cm were discarded during the 2000 shrimp fishery, which represents a relative exploitation of less than 1%. Preliminary catch data for the 2001-2002 fishing year indicates 1,300 t have been taken in Div 2J in August by Russia and Lithuania. This catch was taken outside the 200-mile limit utilizing large midwater trawls and is likely from the pelagic stock of redfish that resides primarily in the Irminger Sea. RV surveys indicate the population declined very rapidly over a ten-year period from 1980 to 1990. The relative exploitation rate generated from catches over this time period cannot totally account for the decline in the biomass. RV surveys continue to indicate the resource is at a very low level and there has been over 25 years of recruitment failure.

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