Question Period Note: Atlantic Herring (4t Gulf)

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 2019, herring landings in the 4T Gulf fishery were valued at $15,008,806 (16,674,927 kg). Within the Gulf Region, herring is the third most landed species after snow crab and lobster, accounting for an average of approximately 30 per cent 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 (PA) Framework, and TAC was 2,000 tonnes annually from 2010 to 2017 with catches being in the range of 1,000 tonnes 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 catches of 1,047 tonnes. The TAC was reduced to 500 tonnes in 2020 with catches of 713 tonnes, including 264 tonnes landed as bycatch during the seiner fall fishery.
• The spring commercial TAC was set at 500 tonnes for 2021 (status quo) and approximately 410 tonnes were landed. This does not include bycatch caught during the fall seiner fishery which is expected to take place in mid-November. New management measures were implement in 2021 to keep the level of spring bycatch caught by this fleet within their spring herring allocation. An additional 89 tonnes were landed in the bait fishery.
• A spring herring rebuilding plan working group was created in 2018. Meetings occurred in December 2018 and in February 2019. The plan is still being developed and discussions with stakeholders will take place during the advisory process in the fall/winter of 2021-2022.
• 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 22,500 tonnes in 2019 and landings reached 15,544 tonnes.
• A fall TAC of 12,000 tonnes was announced in 2020, which represents a decline of 47 per cent over 2019 (22,500 tonnes). An over-allocation was established by using 18,000 tonnes as a catch reference based on current fleet shares in order to provide the opportunity for fish harvesters to land the full TAC. The fishery closed on November 4, 2020 when the quota was reached (12,044 tonnes). The seiners’ fleet (>65 feet), who normally start fishing later in the season, managed to only catch 17 per cent of their allocation before the fishery was closed.
• The 2021 TAC was maintained at the 2020 level, which is currently ongoing.
• 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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