While capelin stocks off Newfoundland and Labrador are still well below the levels seen pre-1991, a newly established limit reference point was “welcomed news” for fish harvesters in the province.
Capelin stocks underwent a collapse in 1991 that saw the stock’s biomass plummet from 8,000 kilotonnes, or 8,000,000 tonnes, to well under 250 kilotonnes. The stock’s biomass currently sits at 333 kilotonnes.
Since the collapse, capelin have adopted a new strategy wherein the population is growing larger, faster. Given that maturity in fish is defined by size, not age, capelin are now spawning at a younger age. These younger fish, however, lay less eggs than their older counterparts.
“Since the majority of capelin die after their first spawning event, the spawning stock is now composed of younger fish,” said Hannah Murphy, DFO Research Scientist.
“These smaller and younger fish; they spawn later in the summer, and this could be due in part to their smaller body size and how long it takes them to develop their eggs, so they take longer to get into the beaches and deep-water sites to spawn.”
For the first time, DFO has established a limit reference point (LRP) for capelin, which establishes the boundary between a critical and cautious stock status. The LRP is described as “ecosystem-based,” meaning that the status of the stock is determined in relation to the creatures that feed on this important forage fish, such as Northern cod, Greenland halibut, American plaice, marine mammals and seabirds.
Northern cod has an especially important relationship with capelin, and their stock status tends to go hand-in-hand. As such, the J3KL capelin LRP was set at 155 kilotonnes, which puts capelin stock out of the critical zone and into the cautious zone. The barrier between the cautious and healthy zones for capelin have been left undefined.
“Therefore, we tied capelin and Northern cod together and we set an LRP that considers cod’s dependence on capelin, which is expected to benefit the entire finfish community,” said Murphy. “However, it does not mean that there are more capelin in the ecosystem, just that we now know fewer capelin are needed to support cod at its LRP. The capelin stock has been primarily above this LRP since 2007. The stock is projected to remain above the LRP in 2024 based on the forecast model, with a 10 to 17 per cent probability of being in the critical zone.”
The Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) has called the establishment of this new framework “welcomed news.”
“The small capelin fishery is important for our coastal communities both in terms of the additional income it provides for fish harvesters who can diversify their business model, and also for plant workers who need those additional days of work during the fishing season,” said Greg Pretty, FFAW-Unifor President. “Our members will be satisfied to see the changes made here today by DFO Science and we’re hopeful for a profitable capelin fishery this year for our province.”
