Status of American lobster stocks in NAFO Divs. 3KL, 4R, and subdivisions 3Ps and 3Pn

Description

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. The harvesters collect logbook data and trained FFAW technicians conduct at-sea sampling which provides crucial data to help determine stock status, the biology of lobster including survival rates, reproductive capacity, and recruitment (the number of juvenile lobsters that will be available to the fishery) as well as the ecosystem processes impacting lobster. Data from the logbook program will provide information to determine catch per unit effort (CPUE) and rates of “v-notching”. Harvesters mark a V notch in the tail flippers of breeding females to alert others to put notched females back in the water. A reliable recruitment index will be developed from data collected from selected harvesters using modified traps that limit escapement of pre-recruit lobsters (juvenile lobsters below the minimum legal size). A stock assessment process and Science Advisory Report and related papers will be published by DFO’s Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat and an industry summary of activity and results will be published.

Program Name

Fisheries Science Collaborative Program (FSCP)

Year(s)

2017 - 2019

Ecoregion(s)

Northwest Atlantic

Principal Investigator(s)

Elizabeth Coughlan
Biologist, Shellfish Section, DFO Newfoundland and Labrador Region

Industry Partner(s)

Fish Food and Allied Workers Union|Unifor