Fisheries Science Collaborative Program

A key goal of stock conservation is to maintain the diversity of stock units (subpopulations) that reproduce in different areas under different environmental conditions. Managing Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus) stocks in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence is a major challenge since the commercial fishery covers areas with a mixture of subpopulations each with a different origin and harvesting level. Signif...

Principal investigator: Catherine Couillard

One of the most important regulations for lobster fisheries in Canada is the minimal legal size (MLS) of lobster that can be harvested. For conservation purposes, the MLS should be set to protect enough young mature females from being harvested. In the southwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence, fisheries managers have aimed to set the MLS at or above the size at which 50 percent of females in the population reach sexual maturity (SOM50) and spawn at ...

Principal investigator: Michel Comeau

This collaborative project between Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Maritime Fishermen’s Union will carry out diving surveys at several sites in the southwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence to gather fishery-independent data for lobster stock assessment and Precautionary Approach purposes. Key goals of the project are to: measure lobster density and length, as well as to monitor ch...

Principal investigator: Michel Comeau

The sustainability of a fishery depends on the management measures established based on the productivity of the target species (largely determined by recruitment, growth and mortality). In the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, failure to determine the age of Greenland Halibut—particularly in adult fish—considerably limits growth and mortality measurement. It is therefore import...

Principal investigator: Yvan Lambert

The development of several abundance indices is essential for improving scientific assessments of the annual fall herring biomass and related science advice for Fisheries Management. This research aims to improve the scientific knowledge of fall subpopulations of herring in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and their relation to the entire herring stock in the Gulf. Enhanced assessment and predictive capacity will benefit the long-term sustai...

Principal investigator: Claude LeBlanc

Declines in productivity of the Northumberland Strait ecosystem make it essential to learn more about the Strait and the fisheries it supports, including the most lucrative fishery in the Gulf, American Lobster. To improve knowledge of productivity and gather the data necessary to establish a lobster recruitment index, 215 post-larval bio-collectors will be deployed at seven dif...

Principal investigator: Michel Comeau

In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, the failure of Atlantic Cod and Hake stocks to recover from decades of overfishing has been attributed to the high mortality rate of large fish. Predation by Grey Seals is considered to be a key component of this mortality, though evidence that seals consume a lot of large fish is limited to the Cabot Strait, where cod overwinter. More data is necessary to determine whether cod are important prey for seal...

Principal investigator: Mike Hammill

The purpose of the project is to make medium-term forecasts (eight to nine years) of lobster recruitment in the Magdalen Islands. In September, a group of four divers will sample lobsters in a natural nursery (Les Demoiselles) and on artificial reefs located in Baie de Plaisance. This sampling will be used to assess the abundance of new lobster cohorts (individuals born in the ...

Principal investigator: Louise Gendron

This project aims to continue the collection of data on lobster populations in the Magdalen Islands and in the Gaspé, which began in the mid-1980s. The project will provide essential information for developing lobster stock status indicators. It will also ensure that the data time series are not interrupted. The indicators will potentially be used to develop a precautionary approach...

Principal investigator: Louise Gendron

The Atlantic Cod stock in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence cannot sustain a commercial fishery since high natural mortality among adult cod and reduced individual growth rates have led to unusually low productivity. An important component of the high mortality rate is thought to be due to predation by Grey Seals, although the indirect effects of predators may be greater than the direct effect of prey consumption. For example, increased risk ...

Principal investigator: Doug Swain

The findings of previous Atlantic Cod tagging and telemetry studies, which are used extensively to assess stocks, indicate that there are complex seasonal movements of cod within each management area. In this new series of projects, cod in Divisions 3Ps, 2J, 3K and 3L will be captured with hand-lines, measured, tagged, and some implanted with telemetry tracking transmitters before being released. Fish harvesters will assist with capture and r...

Principal investigator: John Brattey

To date, there has been little verified data available for the commercial lobster fishery in NAFO Divisions 3KLPs off the east and south coasts of Newfoundland. The lobster stock in Division 3P is one of the main drivers of Newfoundland and Labrador’s lobster fishery, particularly Lobster Fishing Area 11 where reported landings have increased from 15 percent of the province’s to...

Principal investigator: Donald Stansbury

Located off the west coast of Newfoundland, the lobster stock in NAFO Division 4R is one of the main drivers of Newfoundland and Labrador’s commercial lobster fishery. Preliminary estimates of reported landings in 4R were about 873 tonnes in 2013. To date, however, there has been little verified data available for the lobster fishery along many parts of the coast. To inform the ...

Principal investigator: Donald Stansbury

The findings of previous Atlantic Cod tagging, which are used for stock assessments, indicate that there are complex seasonal movements of cod within each management area. For this project, cod in NAFO Divisions 3Pn and 4R are being captured with hand-lines, measured tagged and released using two different types of tags. Data gathered by the traditional tagging program has enabl...

Principal investigator: Claude Brassard

Canada is the world’s largest producer of Snow Crab, accounting for about two-thirds of the global supply. To adequately assess the status of Snow Crab stocks and recruitment prospects—the number of crabs that will enter the fishery (exploitable biomass) in a given year—a variety of information, including fishery-independent data, is required. As part of a province-wide survey that began in 2003, this project will implement a scientifically s...

Principal investigator: Darrell Mullowney

In 2012, Canadian Snow Crab exports were valued at some $429 million, making it the second most valuable Canadian fishery export product. However, the exploitable biomass has recently declined in all areas except on and adjacent to the Grand Banks in Divisions 3LNO. To adequately assess the status of crab stocks and recruitment prospects—the number of crabs that will enter the fishery (exploitable biomass) in a given year—a variety of informa...

Principal investigator: Darrell Mullowney

Information about cod condition (health) is an important component of cod stock assessments. This project examines annual variations in the condition levels of Atlantic Cod in NAFO Divisions 3Pn and 4RS in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Cod condition in the area varies seasonally, with the maximum occurring in the fall and the minimum in April-May, prior to the spawning peri...

Principal investigator: Claude Brassard

In order to determine appropriate recovery strategies for fish stocks, it is essential to develop indices that reflect the state of the population. The potential egg production of a stock is increasingly viewed as a good measure of its reproductive potential. This project will sample spawning Atlantic Cod in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence just before spawning in May of each year to evaluate the population’s total egg production based on a ...

Principal investigator: Claude Brassard

During 2017-19, Claude Brassard, a Biologist at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Mont-Joli, Quebec, is leading a team of researchers, technicians, and fish harvesters who are tagging and tracking fish to improve knowledge about Atlantic Cod in the Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Principal investigator: Claude Brassard

Fisheries managers use effort control to manage the lobster fisheries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Unfortunately, information on the deployment of that effort (effective effort) is not monitored. Biologist Michel Comeau, based at the Gulf Fisheries Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick leads a team surveying harvesters about the lobster fishery of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Principal investigator: Michel Comeau

Research on molting and growth will help improve snow crab harvest management, especially in the Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) shelf study area, which appears to be transitioning from an ecosystem dominated by shellfish to one dominated by groundfish. Currently, the valuable Snow Crab commercial fisheries are managed for sustainable yields by avoiding the harvest of soft-shell (adolescent) crabs.

Principal investigator: Darrell Mullowney

This project addresses knowledge gaps to help assess the status of the lumpfish resource in NAFO Division 4R and subdivision 3Pn. Improvements to fisheries management of lumpfish are expected. Female lumpfish are harvested for roe and the males are returned to the water.

Principal investigator: Johanne Gauthier

In Quebec, DFO is considering a regulation that would harmonize hook size across commercial long line fisheries to facilitate handling of fishing gear and improve bycatch management. Currently, fishers use hooks with a 15.4mm size opening for halibut and smaller, 12.6 mm hooks to harvest cod.

Principal investigator: Mathieu Desgagnés

Cod from the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence stock (NAFO 3Pn, 4RS) are tagged in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) area 4R, but not 4S or 3Pn. The NAFO area 4S cod abundance appears to be approaching the level of that in 4R (although at a lower density), so DFO and the industry are tagging 4S cod.

Principal investigator: Claude Brassard

According to the most recent stock assessments of redfish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in Atlantic waters south of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, this stock is on the point of coming back strongly. If there were to be a return to a large commercial fishery, it would be necessary to use fishing gear limiting the bycatch of other species and the taking of undersize redfish.

Principal investigator: Claude Brassard

Snow Crab fishing Area 13 in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence was closed from 2003 to 2007, then reopened with precautionary Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limits, which were gradually increased based on stock response to harvesting. This post-season sampling survey, led by snow crab expert Jean Lambert from the Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Mont-Joli, Quebec, will enable DFO to establish an optimal TAC for Area 13 ...

Principal investigator: Jean Lambert

Scientist Sylvie Brulotte, a whelk expert from the Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Mont-Joli, Quebec, is leading a research project in co-operation with commercial whelk fishermen to acquire information on the size of whelk at sexual maturity in the 15 fishing areas of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Principal investigator: Sylvie Brulotte

This research and monitoring project will provide data and analyses for the assessment of American lobster stocks in Newfoundland fishing areas NAFO Divs. 3KL, 4R and subdivision 3Ps. Biologist Elizabeth Coughlan of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre in St. John’s, NL works in collaboration with a team composed of commercial harvesters and technicians from FFAW.

Principal investigator: Elizabeth Coughlan