Despite a post-collapse high for the capelin stock last year, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is predicting the biomass will return to average levels this year.
DFO released its annual stock assessment yesterday.
Dr. Ron Lewis, a fisheries stock assessment biologist, says there were several factors that lead to the biomass high last year.
That includes a high fish condition in 2021 and 2022 – which would have been the fish whose spawning lead to the 2024 biomass, and a maximal date for sea ice retreat.
He says the “stars aligned” for a high biomass value last year. However, numbers for those same factors this year are much more “average,” which lead them to their conclusion.
Meanwhile, the FFAW says the stock assessment fails to reflect what harvesters are seeing on the water.
They say the numbers presented in the update do not add up to a biomass decrease, especially considering that 97 per cent of the total allowable catch was landed last year, and the quota for many bays was achieved in only a couple of days.
FFAW-Unifor Inshore Director Sherry Glynn calls it “unfortunate” that there is such a wide disconnect between what folks are seeing on the water, and what DFO reports.
