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Seabird bycatch in commercial fisheries has been a growing conservation concern over the past 25 years. Large-scale fisheries employing gears known to incidentally catch seabirds operate off eastern Canada, however, regional bycatch information is limited., Using data collected from 1998-2011 by observers onboard Canadian domestic and foreign vessels, fishery sectors and target fisheries taking seabirds were identified, as were the seabirds most frequently taken. In addition, maps of seabird bycatch rates were used to identify localized areas where catch rates were high., Seabird bycatch was widespread. Despite generally low observer coverage, > 5000 bird deaths were recorded; most observed mortalities occurred in gillnet and longline sectors during summer and autumn. While the overall magnitude of seabird bycatch has likely decreased substantially since closure of the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua and Atlantic salmon Salmo salar gillnet fisheries in 1992, localized areas with high bycatch rates persist., For example, in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, bycatch rates of northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis were high in gillnet and longline fisheries targeting Greenland halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides near breeding colonies. In offshore areas of the Grand Bank, catch rates of migrant shearwaters ( Puffinus and Calonectris spp.) were high in deep-set gillnet fisheries for Greenland halibut and monkfish Lophius americanus during summer. In inshore regions of eastern Newfoundland, gillnets set for Atlantic cod near breeding colonies resulted in high bycatch rates of murres Uria spp. and shearwaters during summer. High bycatch rates were also observed in pelagic longline fisheries along the Scotian Shelf., While the observer data have highlighted several localized areas with high bycatch rates, information for inshore gillnet fisheries, which take seabirds but are poorly covered by the observer programme, and regional information on fishing effort must both be considered for comprehensive assessment of seabird risk areas and consequent management needs in eastern Canada., Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article mentions the outlook for Canadian regulation of salmon harvests, the reintroduction of traditional fishing gear, and knowledge held by the indigenous peoples of Gitxaala Territory. Recent salmon stock collapses are blamed on the different methodologies used by natives and by the industrial fisheries. The reciprocal-relationship concept of "being of one heart" is a sustainable approach to resource use and conservation that is part of the Gitxaala First Nation culture. Topics include the fishing rights at K'moda river, fishing methods such as gaff, seining, and stone traps, ecosystem health, and the self-regulation that is implicit in need-based harvesting.

The results of beach seining were compared with visual surveys, in habitats showing a gradient of macrophyte densities in Lake Drouin, Québec, Canada. Six community descriptors(species density, total fish density, relative abundance per species, presence or absence of given species, size structure of the fish community and total biomass of the fish community) were used to compare the sampling methods. Most of the fish community descriptors obtained by visual surveys were estimated with an accuracy similar to that of beach seining. Both methods sampled the same number of species(eight out of nine). Visual surveys assessed the relative abundance of the yellow perchPerca flavescensand white suckerCatostomus commersoniwith an higher accuracy than the beach seine. The greatest discrepancies between the two sampling methods were for total fish density and the total fish biomass. Because of the sampling strategy, both descriptors were underestimated by visual surveys, notably in the higher macrophyte density. In a broad community survey to determine the relative importance of species abundance, the visual survey was effective and could be used to develop a within-lake regular and fine-scale sampling design of the spatial arrangement of fish communities and their habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of developing and implementing decision rules resolved a mixed-stock herring fishery crisis in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. The fishery occurs in an area which receives a large migrating stock on a set of smaller local stocks. A purse seine fleet follows the migrating stock into the area as part of their autumn and winter fishery. Little is known about the smaller local stocks which are harvested as by-catch in the seiner fishery and in directed inshore fisheries by local boats. A situation of constantly shifting regulations during the 1996 fishing season led to a series of incidents that included a wharf occupation and prevention of seiner offloading. As a result of these conflicts it was decided to develop decision rules that would allow the fishery to continue in a safe manner and would clearly identify the information and analyses needed to change the rules. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]