Trends in Catch, Age, and Size of Cod from the Commercial Longline Fishery at Bonavista, Newfoundland, 1952–62

• Published in: Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
• Main Author: Fleming, A. M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1965
• Subjects: General Medicine; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f65-044; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f65-044

A commercial longline fishery for cod was begun from Bonavista in 1952. Catches remained high until 1956, particularly on the deep-water grounds but thereafter decreased rapidly because of (a) the intense fishery, especially by European otter-trawlers and longliners after 1956, and (b) irregular recruitment to the fishery. The decrease in catch per unit of effort was marked by wide changes in the age and size compositions of the catch. The cod in deep-water catches tend to be older and larger than in the shallow-water catches.