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Witch flounder - Northeast Newfoundland Shelf and Northern Grand Bank
Fact Sheet Title  Fact Sheet
Stocks management recommendations 2013
Witch flounder - Northeast Newfoundland Shelf and Northern Grand Bank
Fact Sheet Citation  
Witch flounder in Div. 2J3KL
Owned byNorthwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) – ownership
ident Blockident Blockdisplay tree map
 
Species List:
Species Ref: en - Witch flounder, fr - Plie cynoglosse, es - Mendo, ru - Камбала длинная (красная) атлантическая
ident Block Witch flounder - Northeast Newfoundland Shelf and Northern Grand Bank
Aq Res
Biological Stock:  Biological Stock         Value: Regional
Management Unit:  Management Unit         Reference Year: 2012
 
 
Aq Res State Trend
Aq Res State Trend
Aq Res State Trend Aq Res State Trend
Aq Res State TrendNon-Low Fishing MortalityNo or low fishing mortalityRed
Aq Res State TrendDepleted Stock SizeDepleted

The stock remains below Blim. Recruitment in 2011 and 2012 was below average and fishing mortality is currently low.
Habitat Bio
Climatic Zone: Temperate.   Bottom Type: Unspecified.   Depth Zone: Slope-Deepslope 500-1000m.   Horizontal Dist: Neritic.   Vertical Dist: Demersal/Benthic.  

Geo Dist
Geo Dist: Straddling between High Seas and EEZ

Water Area Overview
Spatial Scale:  Spatial Scale

Water Area Overview
Aq Res Struct
Biological Stock:  Biological Stock
Exploit
 

A moratorium was implemented in 1995 following drastic declines in catch from the mid-70s, and catches since then have been low levels of bycatch in other fisheries (e.g. Greenland halibut and redfish fisheries).

Recent catch estimates and TACs are:
  2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
TAC ndf ndf ndf ndf ndf ndf ndf ndf ndf ndf
STATLANT 21 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2  
STACFIS 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2  

ndfno directed fishing.


Effects of the fishery on the ecosystem

There is no directed fishery.
Bio Assess
 
Results
Ref Point
 

Blim is 15% of the highest observed survey biomass, adjusted to the entire stock distribution (B1984*1.48) (STACFIS 2010 p 193).
Projection

Quantitative assessment of risk at various catch options is not possible at this time.
Assess Models
Analytical assessment
Results

Qualitative evaluation of trends in survey biomass indices relative to exploitation and recruitment information were used to assess the status of the stock. Next assessment is planned for 2016.

Human impact

Mainly bycatch related fishery mortality has been documented. Other sources (e.g. pollution, shipping, oil-industry) are undocumented.

Biological and environmental interactions

In the late 1970s and early 1980s witch flounder were widely distributed throughout the Div. 2J3KL shelf area in deeper channels around the fishing banks, and were more abundant in Div. 3K. By the mid-1980s they were rapidly disappearing and by the early 1990s had virtually disappeared from the area entirely except for some very small catches along the slope and more to the southern area. Since 1998, witch flounder have been found mostly along the deep continental slope area, in depths of 200-750m.

Fishing Mortality

Recruitment

Biomass
Sci Advice

Special comments

None
Management
Management:  Management  Div. 3L only

Advice

Recommendation for 2014-2016

No directed fishery to allow for stock rebuilding. By-catches of witch flounder in other fisheries should be kept at the lowest possible level.
Objectives

No explicit management plan or management objectives are defined by Fisheries Commission. General convention objectives (GC Doc. 08/3) are applied. Advice is based on survey indices, catch trends and estimates of recruitment.

Stock definition for management purposes

The stock is widely distributed throughout the shelf area of Div. 2J3KL in deeper channels around the fishing banks, primarily in Div. 3K.
Sources
 
SCR Doc. 13/39; SCS Doc. 13/07, 09, 13 Click to openhttp://www.nafo.int/publications/frames/sci-docs.html
Report of the Meeting, 7-20 June, 2013 - SCS Doc. 13/17 Click to openhttp://www.nafo.int/publications/frames/sci-reports.html
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