Catch Rates by Index Fishermen in the 4T Herring Fishery, 1986-87 PDF Download

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Languages : en
Pages : 19

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Book Description
Assessment of herring stocks in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (NAFO Division 4T) requires a reliable indicator of trends in stock abundance. Recent assessments have used abundance indices based on gillnet catch rates, estimated from landings data from purchase slips and effort data obtained through telephone surveys. Because of difficulties in interpreting catch rates derived from purchase slips, alternate methods are being developed and tested, including acoustic surveys, spawning bed surveys, subjective evaluations by fishermen, and the index fisherman program. In the index fishermen program, catch rates are obtained directly from selected gillnet fishermen through telephone interviews conducted during the fishing season. This paper presents results of the first 2 years of index fishermen data, and evaluates the program's usefulness as an indicator of herring abundance.