2021 stock status update for Atlantic herring in NAFO div. 3KLPs

Abstract

This Science Response Report results from the January 26-27, 2021 Science Response Process Stock Status Update of NAFO Subdivisions 3KLPs Herring as requested by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Resource Management. In light of the COVID-19 situation and resulting data limitations, a full Regional Peer Review meeting scheduled for December 1-2, 2020 had to be cancelled. Alternatively, it was decided that the Centre for Science Advice (CSA), Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Region, would coordinate an internal DFO Stock Update. This stock was last fully assessed in 2019 (DFO 2019) which included stock status updates for Bonavista Bay-Trinity Bay (BBTB) and Fortune Bay (FB) to 2017, and St. Mary’s Bay-Placentia Bay (SMBPB) to 2018. Information available for the current update included fishery landings to 2020, estimated bait landings and purse seine discards from DFO telephone surveys to 2020, biological data including ages and spawning components for the Research Gillnet Program to 2018, and biological data without ages or spawning component to 2019. An overview of three recent acoustic surveys was also provided.