Update of spawner abundance and biological characteristics of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence to 2022

Abstract

The Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) population of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (sGSL) had declined to less than 5,000 spawners in the late 1990s which lead to conservation concerns and the closure of the commercial fishery in 1996 and of the recreational and Indigenous fisheries in 2000. The Striped Bass population subsequently increased to over 900,000 spawners by 2017. A small number of food, social, and ceremonial (FSC) fisheries were reinstated in 2012 and allocations of Striped Bass to Indigenous groups have gradually increased since then. The recreational fishery reopened in 2013 and a pilot Indigenous commercial fishery began in 2018. As the fisheries management measures were responsive to changes in abundance of the sGSL Striped Bass population, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Fisheries and Harbour Management sector requested an update on the size of the spawning stock and information on biological characteristics to 2022. This Science Response Report results from the Regional Peer Review of December 14, 2022 on the update of spawner abundance and biological characteristics of Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence to 2022.