Research Document - 2003/009

Assessment of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) in Atlantic Canada

By Chaput, G., and Bradford, R.G.

Abstract

The document summarizes information held by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) which could be used by the Committee on Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) to assess the status of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) in Canadian waters. Shad are exploited in commercial, recreational and First Nations fisheries. The commercial fisheries are local in nature, generally small in individual landings, and of small capitalization which makes landings difficult to track. The marine distribution of shad in eastern Canada extends from the Bay of Fundy to Labrador. Shad were captured exlcusively in the nearshore shallow waters of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and the locations of capture are consistent with a migration of shad into the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the spring and migration out of the Gulf in the fall. Shad are frequently represented in the catches from research surveys along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia and in the Bay of Fundy. Summer catches are consistent with the well-described occurrence of migrant feeding shad in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine originating from virtually all rivers along the eastern seaboard. Late fall surveys suggest a ‘winter’ distribution at depths of between 100 and 200 m along the edges of Georges Bank and the Scotian Shelf and within the basins along the top of the shelf. Shad have been reported from essentially all coastal areas of the Maritimes. Shad have been observed in rivers from the Bay of Fundy to Labrador but occur infrequently in Labrador and insular Newfoundland. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, shad are most abundant in the Miramichi River in May to mid-July, consistent with a spawning run. Spawning shad occur in the lesser tributaries flowing into the lower Saint John River below Mactaquac Dam. Within Minas Basin shad runs occur on the Shubenacadie/Stewiacke River and the Kennetcook River. There is a large spawning run of shad on the Annapolis River. The fisheries management regime within the Maritime provinces is organized regionally and is therefore consistent with the principle of managing discrete units which are at least if not at a finer scale than the evolutionary significant unit designations which may develop for shad. Run sizes to the major rivers of the Maritimes are expected to be in the order of 100s of thousands of fish. In the Bay of Fundy, there is an appearance of a range contraction owing to the loss of the spawning run to the St. Croix River, upper Saint John River (upstream of Mactaquac) and the Petitcodiac River. Information is available to confirm that there are nine extant spawning runs and the status of 19 other rivers is unknown.

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