Question Period Note: Atlantic Herring (4t Gulf)

• The Department recognizes the importance of the Atlantic herring fishery in the Southern Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
• The Department will continue to make decisions based on the best available science information following consultations with members of the Gulf Small Pelagics Advisory Committee.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada is committed to working with representatives from the herring fishery in the Southern Gulf, including Indigenous groups, commercial stakeholders, and environmental non-governmental organizations, to put a viable rebuilding plan in place for this important species.

• Atlantic herring in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (SGSL) is comprised of two distinct stocks: spring spawning and fall spawning components. These two components are managed independently with separate total allowable catch (TAC) and management measures for their respective fisheries.
• In 2017, landings in 4T Gulf fishery were valued at $12,787,589 (22,691,764 kg).
• Within the Gulf Region, herring is the second most landed species, accounting for an average of approximately 30% of total landed volume within the region over the past five years. The Gulf Region’s spring fishery is mainly sold commercially or kept as bait while its fall fishery is used to produce roe, smoked products, filets and sardines.
• Since 2002, the spring herring stock component has been in the critical zone of the Precautionary Approach Framework and TAC was 2,000 tonnes annually from 2010 to 2017 with catches being in the range of 1,000t each year. In 2018, the interim TAC decreased to 500 tonnes (no final TAC announced) and 2019 TAC was set at 1,250 tonnes with preliminary catches of 542t.
• The spring TAC was set at 500t for 2020 and approximately 445 t were landed, which included bait catch (172 t).
• A spring herring rebuilding plan working group was created in 2018. Meetings occurred in December 2018 and in February 2019. The plan is being finalized and should be posted online in 2021.
• The latest stock assessment, completed in March 2020, showed that the fall herring stock component in the SGSL has decreased and remained in the cautious zone of the Precautionary Approach framework since 2017. Catch levels must be set in order to encourage stock recovery back to the healthy zone of the PA. The TAC was reduced to 22,500t in 2019and landings reached 15,544 t.
• A fall TAC of 12,000t was announced on August 20 for 2020, which represents a decline of 47% over 2019 (22,500 t). An over-allocation was established by using 18,000 t as a catch reference based on current fleet shares in order to provide the opportunity for fish harvesters to land the full TAC .
• The fall fishery started on August 23 in some herring fishing areas. As of September 14, 65 per cent of the TAC was landed (7,745 t).
• One herring fishing area (HFA 16B) was closed on September 9 to avoid a quota over-run.
• Seiners have not yet started to fish, however, they plan to start fishing on September 15. The fleet is also limited in the amount of bycatch of spring spawners caught during the fall fishery.
• The stock suffers from low recruitment, high natural mortality, declining weight-at-age, and continued environmental change. Reducing fishing mortality will slightly reduce the probabilities of declines in the short and long term projections.

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