FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 85, NO. 3 



SO 

 TOt- 



•o 



90 

 40 

 90 



70 



60 



-. SO 



a 



w 

 ^40 



I 30 

 20 



TO 

 60 

 90 

 40 

 90 

 20 

 10 



ltM£ 



 (1979 -83) 



^ ^ (1973-78) 



OIV 2J 



(1979-83) 



^ ■" (J970-78) 



DIV 3K 



e£MAL£ 



^(1973-78) 



(1979-83) 



(XV 2J 



(1979-83) ^ -- (1970-78) 



OIV 3K 



(1979-83) 



^.(1968-78) 



OIV 3L 



_l I I L 



-I I L 



-J I 1_ 



_1 I i_ 



J I I 1 I 1 L 



DIV 3L 



J I I 1 I I 1 I J I L 



2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 



AGE (YRS) 



Figure 12. — A comparison between male and female witch flounder growth curves in NAFO Div. 2J, 3K, and 3L for earlier 



and later time periods. 



somewhat similar to that published by Bowering 

 (1976) for the 1958-74 period although there was 

 little data available for the southern half of Div. 

 3K in the Bowering (1976) paper. Although there 

 are no obvious discontinuities in distribution at 

 division boundaries or elsewhere which could ac- 

 count for the occurrence of separate stocks, there 

 are at least three separate stocks of witch flounder 

 reasonably well defined by divisional boundaries 

 as shown by Fairbairn (1981) and Bowering and 

 Misra (1982). This is not to say that some trans- 

 boundary migrations as adults or through larval 

 drift does not occur when both quite likely do. The 



largest stock is located in the Div. 3K area accord- 

 ing to the catch proportions (Fig. 2) and indices of 

 relative abundance (Fig. 4) presented here. Bow- 

 ering (1985) reported that minimum trawlable 

 biomass estimates for the management zone dur- 

 ing recent years are about 2,500 t, 36,000 t, and 

 7,800 t for Div. 2J, 3K, and 3L respectively, indi- 

 cating that the biomass index in Div. 3K is nearly 

 four times higher than Div. 2J and 3L combined. 

 The major offshore fishing effort towards witch 

 flounder in this zone usually takes place in winter 

 and early spring in areas where prespawning con- 

 centrations generally occur, particularly in the 



624 



