FISHERIES RESEARCH BOARD of CANADA Biological Station
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FISHERIES RESEARCH BOARD OF CANADA Biological Station St. John's, Newfoundland Circular No. 6 TITLE Summary report on fishery investigations and groundfish landings in Newfoundland during 1958 AUTHORSHIP Compiled by A.M. Fleming CONFIDENTIAL No section of this Circular should be quoted without permission of the authors. Dated SEPTEMBER, 1959 QUEEN'S PRINTER and CONTROLLER. OF STATIONERY OTTAWA 82 ISHERIES RESEARCH BOARD OF CANADA Biological Station St. John's, Newfoundland Circular No. 6 TITLE Summary report on fishery investigations and groundfish landings in Newfoundland during 1958 AUTHORSHIP Compiled by A.M. Fleming CONFIDENTIAL No section of this Circular should be quoted without permission of the authors. Dated SEPTEMBER, 1959 QUEEN'S PRINTER and CONTROLLER OF STATIONERY OTTAWA 81 Preface The Biological Station at St. John's is operated by The Fisheries Research Board of Canada for research on the fisheries of Newfoundland, especially on the important commercial groundfish species: cod, haddock, redfish, American plaice (flounder) and witch flounder (greysole). The Station operates two research trawlers, the 82-foot Investigator II and the 62-foot Marinus. In addition, the new 177-foot research trawler A. T. Cameron, which began working for the Fisheries Research Board in November 1958, is under the direction of the St. John's Station for two-thirds of each year. During 1958 three additional vessels were chartered for special projects, with financial support from the Industrial Development Service of the Department of Fisheries, Ottawa. The Matthew II conducted researches and explorations on herring, the Fortune Breeze on shrimp, and the Sandy Point on scallops. Technicians of the groundfish investigations work througho iut the year at St. John's and Burin, important landing centres for the offshore fisheries; at Bonavista, an important centre for the shore cod fishery, throughout the fishing season; and at other ports which are important fishing centres. In these ar .eas, landed catches are sampled and information is collecte d on catch, including catch location, fishing effort, and size z and amounts of fish caught. Close co-operation is maintained with the Economics Branch, Department of Fisheries, Newfoundland Area, in the collect i on and compilation of Newfoundland groundfish landing statisti CS. In the preparation of this Circular, summaries of work by vario us members of the Station's scientific staff during 1958 have bee m used. This Circular is compiled primarily for the information of fishe men, fish plant managers, plant operators, etc. of the Newfound land fishing industry, many of whom have assisted us through: ut the years in carrying out our work. A. M. Fleming 650 600 55. 50° 4.5 0 60 600 Lake Melvi116 ----1 Hawke Bay Cape Norman Cape Bauld Hare Bay White Bay Notre Dame Bay Cape Freels Bonavista Bay Cape Bonavista Trinity Bay Conception Bay St. John's 55 St. Mary's Bay 55° Burin Isle aux Morts I d QUEBEC / / 3 K 50 Jr/ 50° OF; ' ) 1, 10 it.'1AwR44c4 NEWFOUNDLAN s-1„ ...... , 13 3L .1\ H V .1 cYsiypr,4 rt, ♦ V CAP? 4VN na ; \ ' 1riT J.Ei , r GRAND BANK . ,.„ ... 1 AkiN K., , 1) . , .,. e,.. / .a \ \ \... ••., ',fry c., .,,, . 3M fr.. 1 .5.._/.:4-. CS\ , \\ 1..S r —..4..4 l I ■ /-.....1•••;.• • ••• r-•••••, ‘ ,:...„) , ,-, 5° , .%:, ..-..:J \ .1. --- . • 30 ; 1/4.... , 1.- ••••■ ,,., ,.. ,'‘.) ps i - s',, ;-",!.' '.,.t...;.-;--.).: .c..-------.,.-- \ • ... t i/Y 3N i I, ,......, p •• •• ...... - . 1 ",., ‘, \ \ 4): It. ti s'.41:' : .., . \ --',.1.•'"' ■ Map of Newfoundland area showing ICNAF Subdivisions Reports on investigations 9 1958 Haddock Haddock survey. The regular otter-trawling surveys for haddock were carried out in May by the Investigator II on the Grand Bank and St. Pierre Bank. Although the Grand Bank survey in 1958 was nearly a month earlier than in 1957 9 water temperatures at the bottom were, on the average, higher in 19580 As was found in 1957 the haddock had already moved northeastward from their winter quarters in the deeper water of the southwest slope of the Grand Bank and were spread over much of the southern half of the bank. As a result they were not abundant at any station fished by the Investigator II (Fig. 1). In the area, as a whole 9 haddock were not quite as abundant as in 1957. It seems that 9 because of the more favourable temperature conditions over the bank in 1958 9 the haddock scattered over the area earlier than usual. The principal commercial fishery for haddock on the Grand Bank occurs when the haddock are concentrated on the southwest slope, and declines when they disperse over the shallower parts of the Bank.. In 1958 decline in haddock landings from the Grand Bank occurred about a month earlier than in 19570 On St. Pierre Bank the survey for haddock was carried out five weeks earlier than in 1957. Bottom temperatures were found to be favourable over the entire bank. However 9 as in 1957 9 no significant quantities of haddock were taken, indicating that there has been no significant survival of haddock on St. Pierre Bank since the extremely abundant 1949 year-class, which was heavily fished during 1954 to 19560 V. M. Hodder W. Templeman Sizes and ages of Grand Bank haddock caught by research vessel. In catches of the research vessel Investigator II from the Grand Bank in May 1958 9 haddock of the 1955 year-class (three- year-olds in 1958) were the most plentiful. Most of these were about 12 inches in length and made up more than 50% of the number of haddock in the research vessel catches. In 1957 haddock of the 1955 year-class were mostly about 10 inches in length. The once very abundant 1949 year-class of haddock has been very much reduced in numbers, and accounted for only 10% of the number of haddock in the research vessel catches. The 1952 year-class (mostly about 15 inches in length) and the 1953 class (mostly about 16 inches in length) 9 which made important contributions to the 1958 commercial fishery, were found to be on the decline. The year-classes of 1956 and 1957 did not appear to have survived very well (Fig. 2). 2 53 0 52° 510 500 463 + 6 0 0 • —0 Deep '.2) 340 • 0 180 50 41 c". •kcji 325 ,. • 245 ) • 20---N. • $ 5 •s,725 ! 4s, z,3 2.250 . 4253., .. x qo, • /9980 275 • \ SE (,, 200 ; Shoal 5 4-4° 4° )6 '.. \\\ °LIU ./ . \ 1,440 ,0,,---7.:'...) 014,5 4. 1 2 150. i _.,/-) V/ A 9 00 / :,:m / .,/•-) 15‘'75- \ 30 OLIII" ) . 15- ,. 35 25 80-/' ' ... 1 4:----_135 25 0 % 180 -120— \ ., N-. 675 • , . 0 'b 3 ../); , • • ..... 43 430 0 0 3° 52 ° 51° 50° 49° . Fig. 1. Stations occupied by the research vessel Investigator II and catches (lb.) obtained per i-hour's dragging in carrying out the regular otter-trawling survey for haddock on the Grand Bank in May. In each case the figure above the line is the 1957 catch, below the line the 1958 catch. 3 I I 1 1 III II II 14.0 A Length distribution / / / fo 120 11 1 1 -----1957 1:1100 C (1)/-1 60 $-, 40 .13 a 20 • I Ili 11111 6 8 10 12 14 1 6 18 20 inches '55 Age composition in 1957 (171 fish) 4.0 w 20 49 an '53 C) P56 O 0 Age composition in 1958 (487 fish, 40 111 ra 20 ?a '49 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Age (years) Fig. 2'. Length and age composition of Grand Rank haddock from the research vessel's cruises in 1957 and 1958. - 5 — Subdivision 30 January-March 18,277 fish 10 measured 5 0 0 ,00n 0 April-June 0 Subdivisibn 30 1.4° 10 3,801 fish 0 measured P., (i) 5 4-) ao %a 0 cH July-September o 10 Subdivision 3N z 2,982 fish 0 measured 4-) O 5 4-) M 0 10 Subdivision October-December:- 3N 5,740 fish 5 measured 1 III I I I 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 Length (inches) Fig. 3. Sizes of haddock landed by Newfoundland commercial trawlers in 19580 The 1955 year-class can be expected to contribute significantly to the commercial haddock fishery in 1959 and even more so in 19600 V. M. Hodder Sizes of haddock landed by commercial trawlers. In 1958, for the first half of the year, the principal fishery for haddock by the Newfoundland commercial fleet was concentrated in the southwestern Grand Bank area (ICNAF Subdivision 30). Haddock landed from this fishery ranged in length mainly from 13 to 20 inches, with the greatest numbers being around 15 to 16 inches in length. Most of these were fish of the 1952 and 1953 year-classes. In the second half of 1958 a limited fishery occurred in the southeastern Grand Bank area (ICNAF Subdivision 3N). Haddock landed were from 12 to 20 inches in length mainly. Two main groups could be distinguished in these haddock. One, with greatest numbers about 13 inches in length, contained many of the larger fish of the 1955 year-class; and the other, with greatest numbers about 16 inches in length, was made up principally of haddock from the 1952 and 1953 year-classes (Fig. 3)0 A. M. Fleming V. M. Hodder Redfish Flemish Cap. Large catches of redfish were obtained in the Flemish Cap area in 1950 by the Investigator II. Since then the Station has conducted research from time to time in this region. As yet, however, few Canadian commercial trawlers have attempted to fish redfish in the area, although large fishing trawlers of the U.S.S.R.