Spatial dynamics and stock

structure of Atlantic halibut in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

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This research program supported by an NSERC Strategic Partnership Grant aims to implement and apply state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies to generate robust outputs for the assessment and management of one of the most valuable fisheries in the Gulf.



This collaboration among researchers and partners from UQAR, MUN, ISMER, DFO and the fishing industry comprises four specific objectives: (1) Reveal seasonal migration patterns and habitat use of adults including spawning and feeding areas using a geolocation model that relies on daily depth and temperature data recorded by satellite tags; (2) Quantify depth-temperature associations at the spatial scale of the entire management unit; (3) Locate potential nursery area(s) by combining knowledge of spawning locations and egg incubation period into a regional circulation model for the GSL; and (4) Assess connectivity or isolation among halibut in different sectors of the GSL by characterizing the diversity and range of otolith elemental signatures throughout ontogeny.

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A total of 36 large halibut have been tagged in autumn 2017 in all sectors of the Gulf thanks to the key contribution of the Association des Capitaines-Propriétaires de la Gaspésie (QC), the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (NL), the Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association (PE) and the Gulf Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board (NS). Satellite tags will pop off in August 2018, allowing us to estimate movements and environmental associations (Benjamin Gosselin) of these individuals through the year. Halibut otoliths have also been collected by DFO collaborators during the 2017 groundfish RV surveys in the northern and southern regions of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

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