Science Advisory Report  2015/023

Stock Assessment of Atlantic Halibut of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (NAFO Divisions 4RST) for 2013 and 2014

Summary

• Atlantic Halibut landings have been increasing since the early 2000s. For management years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015, preliminary landings were 802 t and 834 t (TAC of 864 t), the highest since 1952.
• Landings from the non-directed Atlantic Halibut fishery represented 18% and 15% of total landings for 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. The directed Greenland Halibut gillnet fishery contributed to more than half of those catches.
• In the past 10 years, the proportion of Atlantic Halibut under 85 cm decreased by half in catches sampled at sea. In the last two management years, this proportion was about 40% in the gillnet fishery and 24% in the longline fishery.
• There is no reliable indicator of spawning biomass for this stock. Consequently, current approaches do not provide data on spawning biomass levels or trends.
• Catches per unit effort for the directed Atlantic Halibut longline fishery show an estimated annual increase of 11% for the entire historical series (1997 to 2014). This trend corresponds to a 300% increase in the fishery's standardized yield since 2005.
• For catches sampled at sea, the proportion of fish over 130 cm (i.e. size at 50% maturity for females) increased from under 5% to about 20% over the past 10 years.
• Pre-recruit abundance indicators from fishery-independent survey data reached among the highest levels in the historical series and recent trends are stable or rising.
• The size frequency distributions suggest that cohorts that will reach legal size in the next two years will be less abundant than in previous years.
• The fished component of the stock is rising and has reached high levels. However, the harvest levels for the fished component are unknown. Pre-recruit indicators suggest high recruitment to the fishery over five years, although more limited in the short term.

This science advisory report is from the February 17, 2015 meeting on the Assessment of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (4RST) Atlantic Halibut. Additional publications from this meeting will be posted on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Science Advisory Schedule as they become available.

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