About this document

This is a prototype of an automatic report that documents how the user specified the operating model and their various justifications.


Introduction

  1. Describe the history and current status of the fishery, including fleets, sectors, vessel types and practices/gear by vessel type, landing ports, economics/markets, whether targeted/bycatch, other stocks caught in the fishery. (from assessment report https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/365329.pdf) “Fisheries reference points consistent with DFO’s Precautionary Reference Points are presented for this assessment. There is a 63% probability that stock biomass in 2014 is below the Limit Reference Point (LRP) of 0.4BMSY and a 99% probability that it is below the Upper Stock Reference (USR) of 0.8BMSY.” (from https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_yelloweye_rockfish_0809_e.pdf) “Yelloweye Rockfish are caught primarily by demersal hook and line gear in Aboriginal, recreational and commercial fisheries coastwide (Yamanaka and Lacko 2001). Common gear types used are rod and reel rigged with single or multiple hooks operated manually by the fisher (“handline”) or longline systems with multiple hooks that are operated hydraulically. Rod and reel gear is jigged just off the bottom and longline gear is set directly on the bottom. The largest commercial landings of Yelloweye Rockfish are taken in the directed commercial halibut and rockfish fisheries. Incidental catch occurs in other directed commercial fisheries, such as those for dogfish, lingcod and salmon and to a lesser extent in groundfish and shrimp trawl fisheries and prawn and sablefish trap fisheries. Trawl gear types, because of their use either off the substrate (mid-water) or over smooth substrates (bottom trawl) do not typically intercept Yelloweye Rockfish."

  2. Describe the stock’s ecosystem functions, dependencies, and habitat types. (from website: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/profiles-profils/yelloweye-rockfish-sebaste-yeuxjaunes-eng.html) "Yelloweye are found only in the northeast Pacific and have been observed from Ensenada, Baja California to Umnak Island in the Aleutian Islands. They are present throughout the coastal waters of British Columbia.

Fisheries harvest 95% of their Yelloweye catch between 19 and 251 m depth. Yelloweye Rockfish have been observed from submersibles in depths from 30 to 232 m, over substrates that are hard, complex and with some vertical relief, such as broken rock, rock reefs, ridges, overhangs, crevices, caves, cobble and boulder fields."

  1. Provide all relevant reference materials, such as assessments, research, and other analysis. Website: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/profiles-profils/yelloweye-rockfish-sebaste-yeuxjaunes-eng.html Report: https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/346394.pdf Report: https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_yelloweye_rockfish_0809_e.pdf Report: https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/365329.pdf


Fishery Characteristics

Longevity

Answered
Very short-lived (5 < maximum age < 7)
Short-lived (7 < maximum age < 10)
Moderate life span (10 < maximum age < 20)
Moderately long-lived (20 < maximum age < 40)
Long-lived (40 < maximum age < 80)
Very long-lived (80 < maximum age < 160)
Justification
(from assessment report https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/365329.pdf) “Yelloweye Rockfish is long-lived with ages recorded to 121 years for females and 115
years for males in BC”

Stock depletion

Answered
Crashed (D < 0.05)
Very depleted (0.05 < D < 0.1)
Depleted (0.1 < D < 0.15)
Moderately depleted (0.15 < D < 0.3)
Healthy (0.3 < D < 0.5)
Underexploited (0.5 < D)
Justification
(from assesment report: https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/365329.pdf) “The biomass in 2014 (B2014) is estimated at 3,821 t (90% credibility interval of 2,428 –
7,138 t), which is 18% (90% credibility interval 10 – 33 %) of the estimated initial biomass
(B1918) of 21,955 t (90% credibility interval 13,747 – 37,694 t) in 1918.”

Resilence

Answered
Not resilient (steepness < 0.3)
Low resilience (0.3 < steepness < 0.5)
Moderate resilence (0.5 < steepness < 0.7)
Resilient (0.7 < steepness < 0.9)
Very Resilient (0.9 < steepness)
Justification
No information provided about steepness for the yelloweye rockfish stock.

Historical effort pattern

Answered
Stable
Two-phase
Boom-bust
Gradual increases
Stable, recent increases
Stable, recent declines
Justification
No graphs provided for yelloweye rockfish to evaluate the historical effort pattern.

Inter-annual variability in historical effort

Answered
Not variable (less than 20% inter-annual change (IAC))
Variable (maximum IAC between 20% to 50%)
Highly variable (maximum IAC between 50% and 100%)
Justification
No justification was provided

Historical fishing efficiency changes

Answered
Declining by 2-3% pa (halves every 25-35 years)
Declining by 1-2% pa (halves every 35-70 years)
Stable -1% to 1% pa (may halve/double every 70 years)
Increasing by 1-2% pa (doubles every 35-70 years)
Increasing by 2-3% pa (doubles every 25-35 years)
Justification
Information on fishing efficiency changes over time is not available (assessment report: https://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_yelloweye_rockfish_0809_e.pdf).

Future fishing efficiency changes

Answered
Declining by 2-3% pa (halves every 25-35 years)
Declining by 1-2% pa (halves every 35-70 years)
Stable -1% to 1% pa (may halve/double every 70 years)
Increasing by 1-2% pa (doubles every 35-70 years)
Increasing by 2-3% pa (doubles every 25-35 years)
Justification
No justification was provided

Length at maturity

Answered
Very small (0.4 < LM < 0.5)
Small (0.5 < LM < 0.6)
Moderate (0.6 < LM < 0.7)
Moderate to large (0.7 < LM < 0.8)
Large (0.8 < LM < 0.9)
Justification
(from assessment report: https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_yelloweye_rockfish_0809_e.pdf ; page 28) " Half of individuals between 42.1 – 49.1 cm in
fork length and 17.2 – 20.3 years of age are sexually mature (Kronlund and Yamanaka
2001)."

Selectivity of small fish

Answered
Very small (0.1 < S < 0.2)
Small (0.2 < S < 0.4)
Half asymptotic length (0.4 < S < 0.6)
Large (0.6 < S < 0.8)
Very large (0.8 < S < 0.9)
Justification
No information about the selectivity of small fish.

Selectivity of large fish

Answered
Asymptotic selectivity (SL = 1)
Declining selectivity with length (0.75 < SL < 1)
Dome-shaped selectivity (0.25 < SL < 0.75)
Strong dome-shaped selectivity (SL < 0.25)
Justification
No information was provided about the selectivity of the fishery to larger fish.

Discard rate

Answered
Low (DR < 1%)
Low - moderate (1% < DR < 10%)
Moderate (10% < DR < 30%)
Moderate - high (30% < DR < 50%)
High (50% < DR < 70%)
Justification
Assessment reports did not report an explicit range of discard rate; but many studies report that discarding of the yelloweye rockfish happens.
Report: https://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_yelloweye_rockfish_0809_e.pdf

Post-release mortality rate

Answered
Low (PRM < 5%)
Low - moderate (5% < PRM < 25%)
Moderate (25% < PRM < 50%)
Moderate - high (50% < PRM < 75%)
High (75% < PRM < 95%)
Almost all die (95% < PRM < 100%)
Justification
(from assessment report: https://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_yelloweye_rockfish_0809_e.pdf) “Rockfish populations are characterized by highly variable recruitment. Prolonged
periods of poor recruitment result in natural population declines. Recruitment failure has
occurred, for Yelloweye Rockfish, in Oregon and California in ten years following 1987
(Wallace 2001). Unfavourable oceanic conditions are a likely cause for recruitment
failure but specific environmental factors that lead to Yelloweye Rockfish recruitment
failures in B.C. are unknown. In California, links have been made to oceanographic
conditions such as upwelling and strong onshore drift (Yoklavich et al. 1996).” But the variation in recruitment could also be unknown for this stock as indicated by the following report: "http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2013/mpo-dfo/Fs70-5-2011-129-eng.pdf

Recruitment variability

Answered
Very low (less than 20% inter-annual changes (IAC))
Low (max IAC of between 20% and 60%)
Moderate (max IAC of between 60% and 120%)
High (max IAC of between 120% and 180%)
Very high (max IAC greater than 180%)
Justification
(from assessment report: https://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_yelloweye_rockfish_0809_e.pdf) “Rockfish populations are characterized by highly variable recruitment. Prolonged
periods of poor recruitment result in natural population declines. Recruitment failure has
occurred, for Yelloweye Rockfish, in Oregon and California in ten years following 1987
(Wallace 2001). Unfavourable oceanic conditions are a likely cause for recruitment
failure but specific environmental factors that lead to Yelloweye Rockfish recruitment
failures in B.C. are unknown. In California, links have been made to oceanographic
conditions such as upwelling and strong onshore drift (Yoklavich et al. 1996).” But the variation in recruitment could also be unknown for this stock as indicated by the following report: "http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2013/mpo-dfo/Fs70-5-2011-129-eng.pdf

Size of an existing MPA

Answered
None
Small (A < 5%)
Small-moderate (5% < A < 10%)
Moderate (10% < A < 20%)
Large (20% < A < 30%)
Very large (30% < A < 40%)
Huge (40% < A < 50%)
Justification
Note the description the spatial closure from the report (https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_yelloweye_rockfish_0809_e.pdf): “Rockfish Conservation Areas
(areas closed to fishing) protect 20% of rockfish habitats outside and 30% of rockfish
habitats on the inside. These closed areas are intended to protect Yelloweye Rockfish
and other inshore rockfish species.”

Spatial mixing (movement) in/out of existing MPA

Answered
Very low (P < 1%)
Low (1% < P < 5%)
Moderate (5% < P < 10%)
High (10% < P < 20%)
Fully mixed
Justification
Yelloweye rockfish is a sedentary species over rocky reef habitat (see report: https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_yelloweye_rockfish_0809_e.pdf).

Size of a future potential MPA

Answered
None
Small (A < 5%)
Small-moderate (5% < A < 10%)
Moderate (10% < A < 20%)
Large (20% < A < 30%)
Very large (30% < A < 40%)
Huge (40% < A < 50%)
Justification
This information was not provided in the assessment reports.

Spatial mixing (movement) in/out of future potential MPA

Answered
Very low (P < 1%)
Low (1% < P < 5%)
Moderate (5% < P < 10%)
High (10% < P < 20%)
Fully mixed
Justification
No justification was provided

Initial stock depletion

Answered
Very low (0.1 < D1 < 0.15)
Low (0.15 < D1 < 0.3)
Moderate (0.3 < D < 0.5)
High (0.5 < D1)
Asymptotic unfished levels (D1 = 1)
Justification
Assessment report: https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/365329.pdf


Management Characteristics

Types of fishery management that are possible

Answered
TAC (Total Allowable Catch): a catch limit
TAE (Total Allowable Effort): an effort limit