An evaluation of the Emerald/Western Bank juvenile haddock closed area

A juvenile haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) closed area was established o n the offshore banks (Emerald and Western) of the central Scotian Shelf (NA FO Div. 4W) in 1987. The management objective associated with this meausre was to protect incoming recruits and thereby allow the stock to rebuild. Ou r evaluation of the effectiveness of the closed area revealed that the mana gement objective was not fully met. The expected trend of declining juvenil e mortality after, and high mortality preceding its imposition, was not rea dily apparent. The lack of response may have been due to several factors: ( i) the proportion of juveniles within the closed area steadily declined and a majority of year classes during the post-closure period remained unprote cted; (ii) the closed area remained open to fishing by fixed gear whose cat ches inside the closed area and surrounding areas steadily increased; and ( iii) the resident haddock stock deteriorated in terms of growth and conditi on due to a combination of historical over-exploitation and large-scale env ironmental changes. The closed area does appear to have had some benefit to other groundfish species in terms of increased abundance, notably American plaice (Hippoglossoides americanus) and winter flounder (Pseudopleuronecte s americanus). (C) 2000 International Council for the Exploration of the Se a.