The Redfish (Sebastes marinus L.) in the Western Gulf of St. Lawrence

Abstract

Size at maturity and meristic characters of redfish from the Gulf of St. Lawrence are intermediate between those of the Gulf of Maine and the more northern European areas. Redfish are abundant in the Laurentian Channel in the region southeast of Seven Islands, but scarce west of this. The narrow size range (33 to 41 cm.) of the large, mature redfish taken in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is due to a southerly drift of larvae away from the spawning area, to an accumulation of old, mature fish, and to a differential distribution by sizes. The last is considered to be of primary importance. The availability of redfish on the bottom shows seasonal variations and catches were largest in the autumn. Redfish feed off the bottom and the dominant food for the sampled areas was the bathypelagic euphausiid Meganyctiphanes norvegica. Smaller catches of redfish at night in bottom trawls are attributed to vertical movements.