Tag Archives: Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research
Letter: Taking stock of cod stock assessments
In a Telegram letter published May 6, (“Perfectly good fisheries data being ignored,” click here ) Harvey Jarvis criticized the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ assessments of northern cod and 3Ps (i.e. south coast) cod. Based on my 20-plus years of experience with stock assessments in Newfoundland and Labrador and other regions (Canada, the U.S., and Europe), I think Jarvis is absolutely correct about the 3Ps cod assessment, but he is incorrect about the new northern cod assessment framework that DFO adopted in 2016. Jarvis suggested that the only information used in the northern cod assessment model to estimate stock biomass is the DFO research vessel survey index. He indicated that the commercial catch, the commercial logbook data and the cod sentinel catch rate indices are not used. This is not true. The 2016 northern cod stock assessment used a state-of-the-art model,,, click here to read the letter 17:23
Future uncertain for fisheries research centre, five years after inception
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – The future of the largest seagoing fisheries research program of its kind in Canada is unclear as cash-strapped Newfoundland and Labrador reviews spending. “We want to continue with this project,” Premier Paul Davis said Tuesday aboard the RV Celtic Explorer docked in St. John’s harbour. But the centre is in the last of a five-year mandate and there’s no guarantee it will continue. The oil-dependent province has been walloped by lower prices and is reviewing all spending as it projects deficits through 2018. Read the rest here 20:48
Cod stocks off Newfoundland improving but recovery still years away: researchers
Scientists tracking northern cod stocks off Newfoundland say there are hopeful signs of recovery but that any lifting of an almost 23-year-old commercial fishing moratorium is likely a decade away. “In the past half a dozen years or so, we’ve seen a remarkable change,” said George Rose, director of the Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research at Memorial University’s Marine Institute in St. John’s. There are more fish, they’re larger and older, he said. Read the rest here 15:39
