Research Document - 2007/001

Preliminary Results from the September 2006 Bottom-trawl Survey of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

By Hurlbut, T., G.A. Poirier, D.P. Swain, R. Morin and C. LeBlanc

Abstract

Each September since 1971, a standardized research vessel bottom-trawl survey has been conducted in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (NAFO Division 4T). The primary objective of this survey is to obtain abundance indices for the major groundfish resources in the area. This report presents the preliminary results of the 2006 survey conducted from September 4 to 30. In 2006, the abundance index for southern Gulf of St. Lawrence cod was close to the record-low 2005 value, suggesting that cod abundance remains very low compared to the late seventies and eighties. The abundance of American plaice also continues to be near the lowest level observed in the history of this survey. The indices of abundance and biomass for white hake from the 2006 survey were lower than those observed in 1995 when the moratorium was imposed on this resource, and suggest that the abundance and biomass remains extremely low. The abundance index in 2006 for witch flounder was near the long-term average, while the index for yellowtail was higher, and for winter flounder, it was largely unchanged relative to previous years. Bottom temperatures were relatively warm in 2006. For the fourth year since 2001, no subzero bottom water was measured over the Magdalen Shallows in September in 2006. The area covered by waters below 1°C decreased relative to 2005, and remained below the high values seen during the 1989-1998 cold period.

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