Science Advisory Report 2023/028
Assessment of American Lobster in Newfoundland
Summary
- As in previous assessments, Lobster Fishing Areas (LFAs) were grouped into four assessment regions: Northeast Coast (LFAs 3-6), Avalon (LFAs 7-10), South Coast (LFAs 11-12), and West Coast (LFAs 13-14). Note the current assessment is primarily based on fishery-dependent data from commercial traps from the 2005–21 time series.
- In 2022 preliminary landings were at the highest in a century (5,780 t); this reflects increasing trends in the Northeast, South and West Coast regions, while reported landings in the Avalon region have remained low. However, reporting rates vary across regions and reported landings likely do not reflect total removals.
- Throughout the time series estimates of exploitation rates are high in all assessment regions (40–70% in 2021).
- Biomass indices have increased to time-series highs in all assessment regions in recent years.
- Short-term recruitment prospects appear steady in the Northeast and Avalon regions and at the highest levels in the time series in the South and West coast regions.
- Recent improvements in recruitment appear to be associated with increasing sea surface temperature in the assessment regions.
This Science Advisory Report (SAR) is from the Newfoundland and Labrador Regional Peer Review Process on the Stock Assessment of American Lobster in Newfoundland held on October 17-18, 2022. Additional publications from this meeting will be posted on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science Advisory Schedule as they become available.
Accessibility Notice
This document is available in PDF format. If the document is not accessible to you, please contact the Secretariat to obtain another appropriate format, such as regular print, large print, Braille or audio version.
- Date modified: