Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee Status Report 2015/02 (Revised) : Eastern Georges Bank Haddock TRAC. 2015. Eastern Georges Bank Haddock. Revised.

Combined Canada and USA catches in 2014 were 14,243 mt. At the beginning of 2015, adult biomass was 117,000 mt. A preliminary estimate for the 2014 year class is 12.9 million age 1 fish. The current estimate for the 2013 year class is 1,300 million age 1 fish, which would make it the largest cohort in the assessment time series, followed by the 2010 year class at 275 million. Except for the strong 2000 and 2011 year classes and the exceptionally strong 2003, 2010 and 2013 year classes, recruitment has fluctuated between 2.1 and 27.3 million since 1990. Fishing mortality (F) was below F[ref] = 0.26 during 1995 to 2003, fluctuated around 0.33 in 2004 to 2006, then declined to 0.13 in 2008. Fishing mortality increased to levels above F[ref] from 2010-2012 before dropping off again in 2013. In 2014, F was estimated at 0.23 (80% confidence interval: 0.20-0.30), just below F[ref]. This stock exhibits a number of positive features. It has produced three exceptionally strong and two strong year classes in the last 13 years. The population age structure displays a broad representation of age groups. The spatial distribution patterns were similar to the average patterns over the previous ten years. However, there has been a general decline in weights at age since the late 1990s and fish condition derived from DFO survey data has generally been below the time series average since 2004. 2015 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) NEFSC (Northeast Fisheries Science Center) Submitted Public Domain 1930