Science Advisory Report  2008/006

Assessment of Snow Crab in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Areas 12, E and F)

Summary

• Snow crab in management Areas 12, E, F and 19 is part of a larger biological population and the southern Gulf is considered as one unit for biological and assessment purposes.

Area 12

• The 2007 landings in Area 12 were 23,243 t (quota of 23,207 t).
• The CPUE remained high in 2005 to 2007 and has been increasing since 2002.
• The incidence of soft-shelled crab remained low at 2.0%.
• Exploitation rate in 2007 was 49%. This compares to exploitation rates between 45% and 70% since 2000.
• This fishery has become largely dependent on the annual recruitment to the fishery.
• The 2007 survey biomass index of commercial-sized adult crabs was estimated at 50,600 t (46,400 t – 55,100 t), 18% lower than the 2006 estimate.
• Fifty three percent (53%) of the 2007 survey biomass, available for the 2008 fishery, is composed of new recruitment (27,000 t).
• The recruitment to the fishery decreased by 39% compared to the 2006 estimate but the residual biomass (23,700 t) increased by 25% from 2006.
• The recruitment to the fishery (R-1) is expected to decline and remain low into 2011.
• The abundances of males smaller than 56 mm CW observed in the trawl surveys from 2003 to 2007 is lower compared to the previous recruitment wave observed from 1993 to 1997.
• The abundance of mature females in the survey has declined since 1990 and reached the lowest observed in 2006-2007.
• A risk analysis of consequences to biomass indicators relative to catch options for the 2008 fishery is available. In the absence of any exploitation in 2008, there is a 19% chance that the commercial biomass will decrease in 2008 relative to 2007.

Areas E and F

• Because of the unknown amount of crab movement in and out of these small areas within a given year, the estimates of commercial biomass index may not reflect the biomass at the beginning of the following fishing season.
• In both areas, the crab concentrations are found near the boundaries and the biomass estimates have large confidence intervals.
• In Area E, the landings were 220 t (quota of 221 t). The CPUE was similar to 2006 but lower than the previous four years.
• The 2007 survey biomass index was estimated at 600 t (200 t - 1,300 t) and was within the range of uncertainty of the 2006 estimate.
• In Area F, landings were 370 t representing 90.7% of the 408 t quota. The CPUE in 2007 was the second lowest of the time series.
• The 2007 survey biomass index of commercial-sized crabs was 1,300 t (600 t – 2,500 t), within the range of uncertainty of the 2006 estimate.

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