SUFB 712: Capelin Stocks Declining In Eastern Canada Causing Worry For Fishing Community

The Capelin Fishing community in Newfoundland and Labrador is concerned that the stock has declined to a point where their livelihoods are in trouble. The fishing community has observed Capelin spawning later in the summer than normal and the individuals that are spawning are smaller than normal. 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists are not too concerned about the low numbers of capelin as the stock has gone lower in the recent past and has rebounded. Capelin are prey to cod, turbot, salmon, whales, and seabirds; therefore, their numbers are related to the number of predators. Capelin numbers fell to an all-time low right before the cod stocks collapsed in the late 1990s and it took them over a decade to recover. Cod and turbot stocks are doing better, which could lead to a decrease in capelin numbers in the short term.

The big question for this story is how do you manage a fishery, where the fish are being eaten by natural predators rather than humans. Let me know what you think of this situation in the Speak Up For Blue Facebook Group: http://www.speakupforblue.com/group.

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