50° - 



40* - 



30" 



20° 



10° 



0° 



100° 90° 80° 70° 60° 50° 



Figure 14 Geographical references in the northwestern Atlantic 



40° 



length increased from about 220 cm 

 in 1961 to about 240 cm in 1971 

 (Figure 16). Their mean weight rose 

 hkewise, from 220 kg in 1 961 to 3 14 

 kg in 1975 (Caddy and Butler 1976) 



ii. Gulf of St Lawrence 



In recent years, more extremely 

 large bluefin tuna have been taken 

 on rod and reel in the Gulf of St 

 Lawrence (Figure 17) than in any 

 other area. No less than 36 out of 487 

 tuna caught in the Gulf in 1975 ex- 

 ceeded 1 ,000 lbs (454 kg) in weight 

 (D A. MacLean, personal communi- 

 cation). 



The sport fishery was initiated at 

 Prince Edward Island in 1966 The 

 season originally extended from late 

 July into October, but the high prices 

 offered for large bluefin tuna caught 

 in the late season resulted in its ex- 

 tension into November, and also in 

 an increase in the number of boats 

 fishing from 30 in 1972 to about 72 



in 1973 (Anonymous 1974). Almost 

 all of the fish taken have been giants 

 (Figure 18) The average weight of 

 the fish caught has remained consis- 

 tently over 300 kg, and rose sharply 

 to 382 kg in 1 975 (Caddy and Butler 

 1976). With increasing fishing ef- 

 fort, the total catches rose to a peak 

 of 1,048 fish in 1974, but declmed 

 sharply to 343 fish in 1975 (D A 

 MacLean, personal communication) 

 In 1972, the Canadian Minister of 

 Fisheries restricted bluefin tuna fish- 

 ing in the Gulf of St Lawrence to rod 

 and reel, using lines of not over 130 

 lb (59 kg) test (Anonymous 1974) 

 In 1975 the Minister restricted the 

 fishing to 10 week seasons and the 

 catch to two fish per boat per dav, 

 using rod and reel only In addition, 

 licenses were limited to boats which 

 had fished in 1974. These restric- 

 tions, which were part of Canada's 

 compliance with the ICCAT regula- 

 tions, combined with poor abundance 



of fish to reduce the catch in 1975 

 (Caddy and Burnett 1975) 



The success of the Prmce Ed- 

 ward Island fishery and exploratory 

 efforts by visiting United States an- 

 glers resulted in the extension of the 

 sport fishery in 1973 to Chaleur and 

 Gaspe Bays, New Brunswick. This 

 fishery increased rapidly and took 93 

 fish with an average weight of 801 

 lbs (363 kg) in 1974 and 148 fish 

 with an average weight of 858 lbs 

 (389 kg) in 1975 (D A. MacLean, 

 personal communication) 



Potential world record rod and 

 reel bluefin weighing 1 , 1 90 lbs (540 

 kg) and 1 ,200 lbs (544 kg) were taken 

 in Chaleur Bay in 1976 (E K. Harry, 

 personal communication) 



The continuing increase in the 

 sizes of the bluefin taken in the Gulf 

 of St Lawrence, and the lack of re- 

 cruitment to the fishen', are vividly 

 illustrated by the weight composi- 

 tion of the 1974-1976 catches (Fig- 

 ure 17) 



iii. Nova Scotia 



Bluefin tuna have long been 

 taken by traps and harpoons in Nova 

 Scotian waters, but the only histori- 

 cal size data are from the sport fish- 

 ery. The sport fishery was first de- 

 veloped in 1935 at Wcdgeport south 

 of Yarmouth) (Figure 19) where it 

 was very successful for many years. 

 In the mid 1950s, however, the fish- 

 ing there deteriorated, and Nova 

 Scotian fishing has been centered at 

 Cape St Mary (north of Yarmouth) 

 since then Our data extend from 1 946 

 tlirough 1955, and also include 1959. 

 The size composition of the catches 

 \aned considerably over these years 

 (Figure 20) Giants dominated the 

 catch in 1 946, but medium sized fish 

 became more important in succeed- 

 ing years, dominating the catch in 

 1949 and pro\iding over 40 percent 

 of those in 1948 and 1950 The year 

 class of 1942 was dominant in 1948, 

 and that of 1943 was dominant in 

 1949-1950, and important in 1951 

 (Mather and Schuck 1960). Giants 

 again dominated through 1955, ex- 

 cepting an important showing of me- 

 diums (year class of 1949) in 1954. 

 In 1959 mediums were again domi- 

 nant (>ear classes of 1952 and 1953). 

 The few catches in recent years have 



19 



