Research Document - 2009/029

Preliminary Results from the September 2008 Bottom-trawl Survey of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

By T. Hurlbut, R. Morin, T. Surette, D.P. Swain, H.P. Benoît and C. LeBlanc

Abstract

Each autumn 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 demersal fish resources in the area. This report presents the preliminary results of the survey conducted from August 28 until September 22, 2008. In 2008, the abundance and biomass indices for southern Gulf of St. Lawrence cod remained near the record-low levels observed in 2005, and indicate that the abundance of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence cod stock continues to be very low compared to the abundance observed in the late 1970s and 1980s. Although the abundance of American plaice declined to its lowest level in the time series in 2002, the catches of plaice reached their highest level in the last 10 years in 2008. The indices of abundance and biomass for white hake from the 2008 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 survey indices for witch flounder in 2008 were comparable to the indices in the late 1990s and early 2000s, while the indices for winter flounder were below the long term average and the index for yellowtail flounder remained near the long term average. Bottom temperatures cooled considerably in 2008 relative to the previous nine years (1999-2007). The area covered by waters with cold bottom temperatures (< 0°C) increased sharply in 2008 to levels comparable to those seen during the 1990-1998 cold period.

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