Research Document - 2004/023

An update of the status of the cod (Gadus morhua) stock in NAFO Divisions 2J+3KL in March 2004

By Lilly, G.R., Murphy, E.F., Healey, B.P., Maddock Parsons, D., Stead, R.

Abstract

The directed fishery for northern (2J+3KL) cod was closed in 1992, reopened for small boats in the inshore alone during 1998-2002, and closed again to directed commercial and recreational fishing in 2003. Reported landings in 2003 were approximately 970 t, 90 t of which came from the sentinel surveys and the rest (880 t) from the commercial fishery. Most (780 t) of the latter came from a mass mortality of cod in Smith Sound on Newfoundland’s east coast during April. The rest of the reported commercial landings came from by-catch in fisheries directed at other species, most notably winter (blackback) flounder. Because the dynamics of populations of cod in the inshore have been different from those in the offshore since about the mid-1990s, and the 1998-2002 fishery was conducted in the inshore alone, the status of populations in the inshore and populations in the offshore are reported separately. Populations in the offshore remain broadly distributed at very low density. The indices of biomass from research bottom-trawl surveys in autumn (2J3KL) and spring (3L only) are at 1% or less of their levels during the 1980s. Population trends of cod in the inshore have been monitored by fixed-gear sentinel surveys since 1995. Catch rates in sentinel surveys have been consistently low in 2J and northern 3K, but considerably higher at some times in many areas of southern 3K and 3L. After the fishery opened in 1998, catch rates declined in both southern 3K and southern 3L, and remained high only in northern 3L, most notably in southern Bonavista Bay and northern Trinity Bay. Standardized sentinel catch rates increased from 1995 to 1997-1998, but then declined below 1995 levels. The point estimates of the catch rates in 2003 were above the minimum levels observed in the time-series, but remain at or below 1995 levels. Hydroacoustic surveys of the Smith Sound overwintering aggregation, which is thought to be by far the largest overwintering aggregation remaining in the stock area, provided average indices of biomass that increased from less than 20,000 t in the 1990s to a peak of 26,000 t in 2001 and then declined to 18,000 t in 2004.

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