Research Document - 2006/099

Distribution and abundance of the Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus L.) eggs for the ichthyoplankton surveys conducted in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence between 1976 to 1979

By Grégoire, F., and S. Faucher

Abstract

Ichthyoplankton surveys were conducted in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence between 1976 and 1979. Mackerel eggs were collected during these surveys using standard nets towed on the surface and Bongo nets towed obliquely in a saw-tooth pattern. The mean abundance of eggs measured during these surveys using standard nets varied between 6,194 and 8,440 eggs/100 m³. These abundances are far superior to those measured during the surveys conducted in the southern Gulf between 1965 and 1975. The mean abundance of eggs measured in 1979 using Bongo nets was 433 eggs/m². A mean abundance of 194 eggs/m² was measured for eggs of development stages 1 and 5. Because fecundity data is available for 1979, this mean abundance could be converted to spawning biomass and compared with biomasses obtained during the surveys realized since 1983 in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

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