Research Document - 2004/078

Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus L.) on the west coast of Newfoundland (NAFO Division 4R) in 2003

By Grégoire, F., Lefebvre, L., Guérin, J., Hudon J., Lavers, J.

Abstract

The 2003 herring landings (Clupea harengus harengus L.) on the West coast of Newfoundland amounted to 14,681 t, representing 73% of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC). The most significant landings were recorded in unit area 4Rd, with 10,546 t. The large seiners alone unloaded 11,090 t of herring on a quota of 11,000 t, compared to 2,307 t or 52% of their quota for the small seiners, and 1,284 t or 28% of their quota for fishermen using gillnet. The catch-at-age of spring spawners was dominated by the year-class of 1996, with 26.5% of all the catches, and that of the fall spawners, by the year-class of 2000, with 34.1% of the catches. The condition (index of Fulton) of the spring and fall spawners declined sharply in 2003, following major gains between 1998 and 2002. Almost all the 4 year old herrings and more are mature and, compared to the 1960s and 1970s, sexual maturity is now reached earlier, in particular for the spring spawners. Herring is generally caught in the whole sampling area covered by the annual scientific surveys conducted to assess groundfish and shrimp (Pandalus borealis) abundance in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. During these surveys, the most significant herring catches are realized in the area of Anticosti, on the lower North Shore of Quebec, and on the West coast of Newfoundland, at the head of the Esquiman Channel. Two dispersion indices calculated by indicator kriging show an upward trend between 1990 and 2001, followed by an important decline in 2003. For the West coast of Newfoundland, these two indices were relatively stable between 1993 and 1997. They increased rapidly after that and declined again in 2003.

Complete document (PDF, 5251 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.