Discarding of Small Redfish in the Shrimp Fishery off Port au Choix, Newfoundland, 1976-80

Abstract

The quantities of small (<=25 cm) redfish Sebastes sp., caught and discarded off Port au Choix, Newfoundland, in 1976-80 were estimated from monthly sampling at sea of the catches of Newfoundland trawlers engaged in this fishery, in order to assess the impact of these discards on the redfish stock of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Minimum estimates of population size of small redfish in the region were derived from stratified-random trawl surveys in the summers of 1976 and 1978-80. Although the quantities of small redfish discarded by shrimp-fishing vessels may have been visibly alarming, the analysis indicated that the quantities of redfish discarded annually represented less than 3.4% by number and 2.0% by weight of the estimated populaton of small redfish in the northeastern region of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, implying that recruitment to the exploitable stock would not be seriously affected by the discarding practices evident in 1976-80.