Partial Recruitment Considerations in Setting Catch Quotas

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 734-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. F. Sinclair

An approach is presented for investigating the interactions between fishing fleets that compete by exploiting different age-groups of the same resource population. The term "partial recruitment" (PR) is used to describe the age-specific exploitation pattern experienced by a population, either from individual fishing fleets or the combined effects of several fleets. Methods are presented to calculate catch quotas for the individual fleets if the management objective is to keep fleet effort constant, or alternatively to predict catch rates by fleet if the allocation rules are based on a percentage sharing of the total allowable catch (TAC) among fleets. Simulations based on an Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) fishery on the Nova Scotian Shelf is used to illustrate the method. The results indicate the importance of considering differences in PR among competing fishing fleets when setting catch quotas. The relative effort exerted by the fleets will affect target fishing mortalities. The fleet that concentrates on younger fish can intercept recruitment. Since the fleets exploit different age-groups, changes in fishable biomass due to recruitment variation are lagged, and fishing success will vary among fleets. Understanding the dynamics of PR may help explain why certain fleets either exceed or fall short of catch quotas.

2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.A. Khan ◽  
C.V. Chandra

AbstractA study was conducted in 2000 and 2003, following the collapse of the commercial fishery in 1990, to compare metazoan parasites of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, captured off coastal Labrador, with samples taken in 1980 and 1986. Fish were captured by otter trawl offshore in the North Atlantic Fish Organisation subarea 2J. Parasites were removed from the digestive tract, stained, identified and compared between the different groups. Both the prevalence and mean abundance of trematodes, larval nematodes and E. gadi were significantly lower in fish taken in 2000 and 2003 than in 1980. While mean values of trematodes and nematodes declined in 1986, those of Echinorhynchus gadi remained unchanged in 1986 and 1990. Four-year-old cod sampled in 1990 harboured significantly fewer E. gadi than older age groups. The most commonly occurring trematodes included Podocotylereflexa, Lepidapedon elongatum, Derogenes varicus and Hemiurus levinseni while the larval nematode, Anisakis sp. was predominant. Comparison of offshore samples taken in 2000 and 2003 with others taken in previous years suggests an overall decline of parasites coincident with a change in climatic conditions, the absence of a major food source, namely capelin Mallotus villosus, of cod and ultimately the decline of the Labrador population.


2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 1719-1733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Pardoe ◽  
Anssi Vainikka ◽  
Gudmundur Thórdarson ◽  
Gudrun Marteinsdóttir ◽  
Mikko Heino

Decreasing temporal trends in probabilistic maturation reaction norm (PMRN) midpoints, symptomatic of earlier maturation despite environmentally induced variation in growth, have been observed in many exploited fish stocks. Here, we studied the growth and maturation trends of female and male Icelandic cod ( Gadus morhua ) by estimating PMRN midpoints for cohorts 1964–1999 and found evidence that a shift towards maturation at smaller sizes and younger ages has occurred independently of changes in growth, condition, and temperature. Weighting the data with regional survey abundance estimates to account for spatial heterogeneity in maturity status and sampling intensity did not qualitatively affect the temporal trends. Length-at-age also decreased through the study period, which, through simulations, could be attributed to the energetic costs of earlier maturity at maturing age groups but not at younger ages. These findings support the hypothesis that such changes in maturation schedules are not caused by environmental factors alone but could also reflect a genetic change, potentially in response to intensive fishing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Irgens ◽  
Arild Folkvord ◽  
Håkon Otterå ◽  
Olav S. Kjesbu

Specific impacts of somatic growth, sexual maturation, and spawning events on otolith zone formation in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were assessed in a 33-month tank experiment, using Barents Sea cod and Norwegian coastal cod. High and low feeding ration combinations were used to mimic environmental stressors in the field. For both stocks, apparent macrostructural “spawning zones” in otoliths are registered in statutory stock monitoring programs to estimate age at maturity, thus adding key information to stock biomass assessments. We found that substantial energy investments in reproduction caused reductions in otolith growth and altered proportional width between translucent and opaque zones. These effects, however, were only statistically significant among individuals with high reproductive investments, while otoliths from individuals with low investments did not differ from the otoliths for immatures. Reproduction may thus not necessarily induce spawning zones, and alternatively, spawning zones may not necessarily reflect reproduction. Altogether, this suggests that the individual energy level, as a premise for metabolic activity, plays a key role in the formation of such zones and thus is related to environmental conditions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward A Trippel ◽  
Michael B Strong ◽  
John M Terhune ◽  
Jeremy D Conway

Demersal gill nets equipped with acoustic alarms reduced harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) by-catch rates by 77% over those without alarms in the Swallowtail area of the lower Bay of Fundy during field testing in August 1996 (68% reduction) and 1997 (85% reduction) (both years combined, three harbour porpoises in 249 alarmed nets versus 14 harbour porpoises in 267 nonalarmed nets). The alarms spaced 100 m apart along the net floatline produced a 0.3-s pulse at 10-12 kHz every 4 s at a level of 133-145 dB re 1 µPa at 1 m. In conditions of no rain and low wind (Sea State 0-2) the alarms were presumed to be clearly audible to harbour porpoises at ranges of 0.1-0.6 km. Catch rates of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), and pollock (Pollachius virens) were not significantly different in alarmed and nonalarmed nets (except in one season when pollock were caught in lower numbers in alarmed nets). Harbour porpoise by-catch and herring movements may be linked. During years of low herring abundance, we also observed low harbour porpoise entanglement rates.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 937-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisha Guan ◽  
Yong Chen ◽  
James A. Wilson ◽  
Timothy Waring ◽  
Lisa A. Kerr ◽  
...  

To evaluate the influence of spatially variable and connected recruitments at spawning component scale on complex stock dynamics, a typical agent-based complex stock was modeled based on the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stock in the Gulf of Maine. We simulated three scenarios with different degrees of connectivity (i.e., individual exchange) between the spatially variable recruitments of 36 spawning components within four subpopulations under the stock. Subsequently, the temporal trends were compared for different scenarios in age-1 recruitment, spawning stock biomass, and local depletion proportion of the overall complex stock and the individual subpopulations. Results show that increased recruitment connectivity from 0.1–0.2 to 0.6–0.8 between various components tends to increase the productivity and stability of a complex stock at local and global scales and reduce the proportion of depleted components due to overfishing. Moreover, depletions of less productive components may occur without a substantial reduction in the overall complex stock biomass and recruitment.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 1255-1264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas P. Swain

I examined the bathymetric pattern of Alantic cod (Gadus morhua) in September in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence for age groups 3–8+ over the period 1971–91 using data from annual bottom trawl surveys. Mean age of cod tended to increase with depth in all years. The age-specific bathymetric patterns underlying this relationship differed markedly between periods of low and high abundance. When abundance was high, cod densities tended to be highest at intermediate depths, and the positive correlation between age and depth reflected a tendency for density to be highest in progressively deeper water for older fish. When abundance was low, density was either unrelated to depth or highest in shallow water, and the positive correlation between age and depth reflected a tendency for older cod to be more widely distributed than younger cod (i.e., density decreased less sharply with depth for older cod). I suggest explanations for this density dependence of cod bathymetric pattern and discuss these results in relation to the factors underlying habitat selection and bathymetric segregation by age in this population.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 2129-2136 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Rose ◽  
W.C. Leggett

Vessels fishing with gill nets for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1985 and 1986 concentrated their fishing effort in shallow waters (<50 m) where cod densities were highest (to 0.5/m3). In both years, seasonal trends (June–August) in mean daily deployment depths of gill nets were positively correlated with mean depths at which cod were surveyed (1985, r = 0.71; 1986, r = 0.51, Ps < 0.05). Daily catch rate variability of individual vessels was accounted for by fish "flux" adjacent to nets (44%), vessel operator skill (19%), and "flux"–skill interaction (8%; total R2 = 0.71). A guided vessel directed to fish at sites predicted to have high fish flux (located down-current from high-density cod aggregations identified by echosounding within depth ranges forecast to be favorable to cod by "rule of thumb" wind-based oceanographic models) had higher catch rates (mean 1.3 t/d) than the fleet average and its own average fishing without guidance (means 0.4 t/d, P's < 0.05). Directed searches were of shorter duration (mean 0.5 h) than searches conducted at random (1.5 h). Combined use of echosounders and air–sea-based forecasts of cod distribution could help stabilize catch rates, especially at times of poor fish availability inshore.


2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.P. Reidy ◽  
S.R. Kerr ◽  
J.A. Nelson

Individual Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were exercised using three different measures of swimming performance. (1) An endurance test (critical swimming speed, U(crit), protocol) designed to assess predominantly aerobic endurance swimming (duration hours). (2) An acceleration test (U(burst)), in which the fish were required to swim against a rapidly increasing current until exhausted (duration minutes). This test was designed to assess predominantly glycolytic-based swimming capacity. (3) A sprint test that examined the animals' ability to swim away from a sudden stimulus (duration seconds). Rates of oxygen consumption (mdot (O2)) during the endurance test and various morphological variables of the individual fish were also measured. Both aerobic and anaerobic swimming performance of individual cod were found to be significantly repeatable over a 3 month period. mdot (O2) during the U(crit) protocol was also significantly repeatable at intermediate to high swimming speeds, but not at low speeds. Our results support extrapolation from metabolic rates at incremented swimming speeds to zero activity as the best way to measure standard metabolic rate in cod. While performance in the U(crit) test and the sprint test were positively correlated, there was a negative correlation between performance in the U(crit) test and performance in the U(burst) test. This implies a potential trade-off in individual cod between stamina and the ability to use glycolytic-based locomotion. Inter-individual variation in swimming performance during these protocols, while substantial, was not correlated with individual variation in fin surface areas, age or morphology. However, U(burst) performance was dependent upon the sex of the animals, while performance during the U(crit) protocol was significantly correlated with their aerobic scope for activity.


<em>Abstract</em>.—By the 1990s, widespread fisheries restructuring triggered by the implementation of the individual transferable quota (ITQ) system and market-derived impacts of globalization had occurred in most aspects of the Icelandic fishery sector. The consequences of privatization of fishery resources have transformed management in regulating access to the resource, processing, corporate ideology, and the reproduction of labor. Economic rationality, marketability, efficiency, and managerial innovations in effect are both the mantra and imperative accompanying concentration and consolidation. Social and environmental costs are widely observable in many coastal communities that were the former lifeblood of the Icelandic economy. This chapter presents an account of the policy implications of cutbacks in Atlantic cod <em>Gadus morhua </em>allocations and discusses their effect on coastal communities around Iceland. It will focus on the response of fishery companies to a changed structural environment, as well as their role in shaping the new sector with special emphasis on the economic rationale of leading seafood companies. In this context, this chapter explores the impact of the transformation in the fisheries sector on effects of the ITQ system on stocks; on fishing and fishers; on the processing sector; on labor, particularly that of women; and on communities.


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