Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy Stock STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE This stock is found in U.S. and Canadian Atlantic waters. During the summer (July to September), harbor

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Greenland; Lower Bay; Newfoundland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.294.8494; http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/ao1995poha-gmeb.pdf

porpoises are concentrated in the northern Gulf of Maine and southern Bay of Fundy region, generally in waters less than 150 m deep (Gaskin 1977; Kraus et al. 1983; Palka 1994a). During fall (October-December) and spring (April-June), harbor porpoises are widely dispersed from North Carolina to Maine, and harbor porpoise density is much lower than during the summer. No specific migratory routes to the northern Gulf of Maine/lower Bay of Fundy region have been documented. Harbor porpoises are seen from near the coastline into the middle of the Gulf of Maine (>200 m deep) in both spring and fall. There is little information about the distribution of harbor porpoise during winter (December to March), although numerous strandings have occurred on beaches from North Carolina to New York. There are two stranding records from Florida (Smithsonian strandings data base). Gaskin (1984, 1992) proposed that there were four separate populations in the western North Atlantic, these being the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Greenland populations. Presently there is insufficient evidence to accept or reject this hypothesis. Results of a workshop held in February, 1994 were inconclusive with respect to population structure of harbor porpoises in the western North Atlantic, although it was agreed upon that animals found in the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy are from the same stock (Palka 1994b). Research is currently being conducted to re-analyze existing genetic data and analyze new samples in order to resolve the larger scale stock structure question. This report follows Gaskin's hypothesis on harbor porpoise stock structure in the western North Atlantic; Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy harbor porpoises are recognized as a single management stock separate from harbor porpoise populations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, and Greenland. POPULATION SIZE Two line-transect sighting surveys were conducted — one in 1991, the other in 1992 — to estimate the absolute population size of the ...