Acoustic Surveys and Experimental Gillnetting of Local Spawning Beds for Fall Herring

In order to enhance scientific knowledge of fall herring populations in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, this project will survey fall herring spawning grounds and collect data to develop an index of abundance for each fishing area to increase area specific information in the stock assessment. The information gathered will also be used to assess local indices of recruitment, size at maturity, mesh selectivity and relative fishing mortalities. The experimental nets will also be equipped with a temperature logger to collect environmental information about conditions on the spawning areas. The bidders must choose fishers for conducting acoustic and netting surveys in regions 1-6, and wharf sampling in regions 5 and 6. DFO will provide guidance and manage the project. Task 1: One licensed herring fishing vessel in each of regions 1 to 6 will conduct stratified random acoustic surveys to determine the relative abundance of the fall herring schools. This information may be used to determine relative abundance estimates for the different fishing areas. Task 2: One licensed herring fishing vessel in each of regions 1 to 6 will set a stand-alone multi-mesh gillnet to determine the size composition of the herring schools and to obtain indices of age-classes entering the population. Task 3: Port samplers in Region 5 (East PEI) and Region 6 (Pictou) will conduct scientific port sampling of the commercial and experimental gill net catches. The port sampler will be responsible for measuring two commercial samples (1 time per week) and one pan of fish per mesh size sample (5 mesh sizes) from variable mesh experimental nets (1-2 times per week).