Fecundity of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) was estimated within five spawning areas (German Bank, Scots Bay, Seal Island, Southern Shore Nova Scotia, and Eastern Shore Nova Scotia) in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) areas 4WX in 2019 and 2020. The objective of this project was to describe the fecundity-at-size (weight, length, and age) relationships among spawning grounds, compare these relationships to historical fecundity-at-size relationships, and assess the influence of changes in weight-at-age and fecundity over time to the reproductive potential of a unit of spawning stock biomass.Cite this data as: Barrett T. Data of: Fecundity of Herring in Divisions 4WX. Published: September 2021. Population Ecology Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, St. Andrews, N.B. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/e39b1318-c9f7-4686-b5e5-7d838c8ac99a

Atlantic herring. Concentration, breeding areas and larval retention areas of Atlantic Herring in the St. Lawrence Estuary.Data extracted from the Fish Habitat Management Information System (FHAMIS).Concentration areas, spawning sites and breeding areas of Atlantic herring according to a literature review of documents produced between 1977 and 1998.

SummaryThe Quebec region of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is responsible for the assessment of several fish and invertebrate stocks exploited in the Estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The commercial catches sampling program is one of the sources of information used to complete these assessments. The data collected by this program, at wharf or at sea, offers among other things the advantage of a relatively large spatio-temporal coverage and provides some of the necessary knowledge to assess the demography and the structure of the exploited populations. This program is implemented by specialized DFO staff whose main mandate is to collect biological data on groundfish, pelagic fish and marine invertebrate species that are commercially exploited in the various marine communities.DataThis dataset on the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) includes the metadata, sample weight, fish length, the sex and the number of specimens measured. This dataset covers the period of 1982 to present. In order to protect the confidentiality of the sources, some informations (such as those concerning the vessel) have been excluded and others (such as the date of capture) have been simplified. Entries where there was only one vessel in a fishing area for a given year were also excluded. Further information including the fishing areas coordinates can be found by clicking on the «Atlantic and Arctic commercial fisheries» and «Fishing areas» links below.

Herring biological (fish and sample) data as part of Herring Stock Assessment database

This project was completed by the Pelagics Section in the Newfoundland and Labrador Science Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). As part of the Coastal Environmental Baseline Program, a historical research gillnet program was reinitiated in Placentia Bay. Four local fishers each set fleets of standardized nets to catch herring for 6 weeks during the spring. The data collected was used to update a time series and provide advice at the herring stock assessment in October 2022.  This program was continued in the 22/23 fiscal year. Data collected from this program included gillnet catch rates, bycatch, temperature and biological (herring) samples; from which biological metrics such as length, weight, sex, maturity and age were measured. This record contains catch data for 2018 to 2021, as well as biological data from 2018.

PURPOSE:To provide demographic parameters and relative indices of abundance for Atlantic herring in NAFO Division 4T.DESCRIPTION:The experimental gillnet survey is conducted in collaboration with Atlantic herring harvesters and uses standardized multi-mesh gillnets. Gillnets are set on spawning grounds in the spring and fall. Data (fish and sample) are collected to provide: (1) relative age-disaggregated indices of abundance, (2) an indicator of relative changes in fishery selectivity over time, and (3) information on the demographic composition of herring on the spawning grounds. PARAMETERS COLLECTED:Sample: sample location; sample weight; mesh size; length frequencyBiological: length; weight; gonad weight; maturity stage (biological); sex (biological); ring count (biological)USE LIMITATION:To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use of the data, we would encourage you to contact the data custodian.

The Quebec region of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is responsible for the assessment of several fish and invertebrate stocks exploited in the Estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The commercial catches sampling program is one of the sources of information used to complete these assessments. The data collected by this program, at wharf or at sea, offers among other things the advantage of a relatively large spatio-temporal coverage and provides some of the necessary knowledge to assess the demography and the structure of the exploited populations. This program is implemented by specialized DFO staff whose main mandate is to collect biological data on groundfish, pelagic fish and marine invertebrate species that are commercially exploited in the various marine communities.The following species have been sampled by this program from 1976 to present:1. American lobster (Homarus americanus)2. American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides)3. Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)4. Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus)5. Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus)6. Atlantic lyre crab (Hyas araneus)7. Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus)8. Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima)9. Arctic Lyre Crab (Hyas coarctatus)10. Capelin (Mallotus villosus)11. Common softshell clam (Mya arenaria)12. Giant scallop (Placopecten magellanicus)13. Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides)14. Green urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis)15. Iceland scallop (Chlamys islandica)16. Redfish (Sebastes sp.)17. Rock crab (Cancer irroratus)18. Sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa)19. Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio)20. Stimpson surfclam (Mactromeris polynyma)21. Waved whelk (Buccinum undatum)22. White hake (Urophycis tenuis)23. Winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus)24. Yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea)For more information concerning these species, see the «Related Products» section below.

Herring Permanent Spawn Transects (geodatabase) - used for herring spawn survey program and spatial analysis/presentation of spawn data from Herring Stock Assessment Database (including creation of spawn polygons).

The Department of Fisheries established a survey of demersal juvenile Atlantic cod (*Gadus morhua*) in the nearshore (<10 m deep) in 1959. This survey aimed to characterize the distribution and abundance of juvenile Atlantic cod and was based upon Norway's Flodevigen sampling program which has been conducted continuously since 1919. A 25 m seine was used to sample juvenile Atlantic cod nursery locations on the Avalon Peninsula and Northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland in September and October. The survey continued until 1964 and became known as the Fleming survey, after original initiator Alistair Fleming. The survey was reinstated by Memorial University of Newfoundland from 1992 to 1997. Multiple tows were conducted at a subset of the original 55 Fleming sites located in St. Mary's Bay, Trepassey Bay, the Southern Shore, Conception Bay, Trinity Bay, Bonavista Bay, Gander Bay, New World Island, Fortune Harbour, Badger Bay, Halls Bay and Green Bay.This data set includes several different subsets, some of which span both Fleming Survey periods (1959-1964 and 1992-1997):I. JuvCodCatch60s90s:Catches of juvenile Atlantic cod (1959-1964, 1992-1997) from the first two consecutive tows at each site. This is a summary based on JuvCodLengths90s and FlemingSurveyData60s;II. JuvCodLength90s:Lengths of all individual juvenile Atlantic cod caught for each site (1992-1997);III. SiteEnvData60s90s:Station data for Fleming data 1992-1997;IV. FlemingSurveyData60s:Fleming survey data from 1959-1964 (note there are three record types pertaining to: station data "type 1"; general species catch data including juvenile Atlantic cod grouped by age class ("1+", "Zeroes", and "Total") "type 2; and juvenile Atlantic cod (species 223) listed in length bins "type 3"; andV. FlemingBycatch60s92to96:Bycatch data from 1959-1964 & 1992-1996 from first two tows at each site. This is a summary based partly on the FlemingSurveyData60s set.

Herring Section shapefile - used for spatial analysis/presentation of data from Herring Stock Assessment Database.