Science Response 2014/047

2014 Stock Status Update of Lobster (Homarus americanus) in the Bay of Fundy (Lobster Fishing Areas 35-38)

Context

The status of the lobster resource in the Bay of Fundy (Lobster Fishing Areas, LFAs, 35-38) to the end of the 2011-12 seasons was assessed in February 2013 (DFO 2013, Gaudette et al. 2014, Tremblay et al. 2013).  Fisheries Management has requested “interim information on the status of LFAs 35-38 lobster stocks to maintain the scientific basis for management advice consistent with DFO’s Precautionary Approach (PA)”.  The PA defined in the 2013 assessment identified three key indicators (landings, commercial catch rate and summer research survey catch rate) that capture changes in lobster abundance and proposed reference points for each indicator (Tremblay et al. 2013).  This Science Response updates these indicators to the end of the 2012-13 fishing season. The results of this analysis indicate that the lobster stock in LFAs 35-38 was in the healthy zone at the end of the 2012-13 fishing year.

This Science Response Report results from the Science Response Process of 8 September 2014, on the Lobster Fishing Areas (LFA) 35-38 Lobster Stock Status Update.

Complete document (PDF, 237 KB)

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