PROSPECTIVE Canada Gulf of St. Lawrence (NAFO 4R) herring - purse seine

This FIP involves development of industry-supported acoustic survey capacity adjacent to the NAFO 4R Atlantic Herring stock. An MSC pre-assessment of the fishery in 2023 highlighted the need for updated reference points for this stock, to which an industry-supported acoustic survey will directly contribute. Due to changing environmental conditions, the timing of the 4R herring fishery has shifted to later in the fall and it is generally more unpredictable – despite resource abundance. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has had limited success for more than a decade in conducting its own fall acoustic survey, given the timing unpredictability, DFO’s own limited resources, and challenging late fall sea conditions.  The DFO relies on scheduled charters to conduct their acoustic surveys and the 4R Atlantic herring are no longer following historical migration patterns. Selected commercial purse seine vessels will be equipped with the newest scientific echosounder for surveying (Simrad EK80 38split/200khz) and will participate annually in a science-based survey. Participating harvesters will be licensed to fish the 4R herring stock and will work directly with researchers for appropriate equipment calibration and survey design. These vessels are more readily adaptable to changing sea conditions and are also reliably and consistently present on the fishing grounds, making these vessels the ideal candidates for conducting the science-based surveys. Industry stakeholders will work with the DFO and the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University (MI) to develop and follow survey and sampling plans. The data collected through these efforts will be used in the development of the reference points needed by the MSC.