Bibliography of the Maurice Lamontagne Institute

Joël CHASSÉ

GALBRAITH, P.S., J. CHASSÉ, D. GILBERT, P. LAROUCHE, D. BRICKMAN, B. PETTIGREW, L. DEVINE, A. GOSSELIN, R.G. PETTIPAS, C. LAFLEUR, 2011. Physical oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2010 ; Conditions océanographiques physique dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent en 2010. DFO, Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Research Document ; MPO, Secrétariat canadien de consultation scientifique, Document de recherche, 2011/045, 86 p .

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An overview of physical oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2010 is presented. Air temperatures reached record highs when averaged from January to March and from October through December as well as annually. The monthly averaged freshwater runoff measured at Québec City was normal overall in 2010 but was unusually high during winter and fall, and the spring freshet was almost absent. Near-surface water temperatures in the Gulf were normal or above normal all year and in all regions except for the Mécatina Trough and Esquiman Channel in June. Maximum sea-ice volume within the Gulf and on the Scotian Shelf was 11 km^³, a record low since 1969. The duration of the 2009–2010 ice season was shorter than normal and associated with the early ice melt. Winter inflow of cold and saline water from the Labrador Shelf occupied the Mécatina Trough over the entire column in winter 2010. The spread of the intrusion was confined close to the Strait of Belle Isle, leading to an overall small volume of 809 km^³. However, this intrusion volume represented 29 % of the unusually small volume of mixed layer waters that were colder than -1 °C. The winter cold mixed layer volume in the Gulf, excluding the Estuary, was 13 900 km³, a value higher than the 1996–2009 average by 0.7 SD. This cold-water volume corresponded to 42 % of the total water volume of the Gulf. However, it was very warm, on average about 1 °C above the freezing point. This is the first time in 15 years of winter surveys that such high temperatures were recorded. The cold intermediate layer (CIL) index for summer 2010 was - 0.04 °C, which is similar to observations in 2000. This is an increase of 0.38 °C since 2009. On the Magdalen Shallows, none of the bottom area was covered by water with temperatures < 0 °C in September 2010, similar to conditions in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009. In other regions of the Gulf, very few areas had bottom temperatures below 0 °C. Regional patterns of the August and September CIL show that the layers for T < 1 °C and < 0 °C were much thinner in most parts of the Gulf in 2010 than in 2009 and had a generally higher core temperature everywhere. Conditions in March 2010 were characterized by a very thick winter mixed layer, although very warm, including a thick intrusion of Gulf waters into the Estuary. By June 2010, the CIL thickness returned to nearnormal but still had above-normal minimum temperatures. The CIL warming rate appeared to be slower than usual because core temperatures were closer to normal in certain regions by August and more so by November. The warm deep waters in the Estuary in 2009 were replaced by colderthan- normal waters by June 2010. Colder-than-normal deep waters also occupied the northwest Gulf at that time. Very warm waters occupied Cabot Strait in June at 250 m—the depth of the temperature maximum—and there is a hint that the top portion of this water mass was sampled during the March survey. The warm deep waters were still present in Cabot Strait in August as well as in November. Gulf-wide average temperatures were below normal at 200 to 300 m and salinities were below normal from 150 to 300 m. Temperatures at 300 m increased marginally overall but significantly (by 1 SD) at Cabot Strait, where the anomaly is now +1 SD. Salinity at 200 m and 300 m decreased overall by 0.6 SD but increased at Cabot Strait to reach +0.6 SD at 200 m. The 300 m waters of the Estuary are expected to cool further during the next two years, but it will be interesting to follow the warm anomaly present in 2010 at Cabot Strait as it progresses up the channel toward the Estuary. The surface mixed layer in November was anomalously thick but more importantly very warm, warmer in fact than in November 2009 which were the preconditions for the record conditions of March 2010.

DUFOUR, R., H. BENOIT, M. CASTONGUAY, J. CHASSÉ, L. DEVINE, P. GALBRAITH, M. HARVEY, P. LAROUCHE, S. LESSARD, B. PETRIE, L. SAVARD, C. SAVENKOFF, L. ST-AMAND, M. STARR, 2010. 2010 Canadian marine ecosystem status and trends report. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2010/030(Revised), 38 p .

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GALBRAITH, P.S., R.G. PETTIPAS, J. CHASSÉ, D. GILBERT, P. LAROUCHE, B. PETTIGREW, A. GOSSELIN, L. DEVINE, C. LAFLEUR, 2010. Physical Oceanographic Conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2009 Conditions d’océanographie physique dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent en 2009. DFO, Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Research Document ; MPO, Secrétariat canadien de consultation scientifique, Document de recherche, 2010/035, 77 p .

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An overview of physical oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2009 is presented. Air temperatures were close to normal when averaged from January to March. Air temperatures were in general either normal or above normal for the remainder of the year. The monthly averaged freshwater runoff measured at Québec City was normal overall in 2009 but consisted of aboveaverage runoff in July compensated later by lower runoff in the fall. Near-surface water temperatures in the Gulf were above normal in all regions except the Northwest Gulf and the Estuary in June and in every region in August. Maximum sea-ice volume within the Gulf and on the Scotian Shelf was 65 km³, a value that is below normal using updated ice volume estimates for 1971-2000. The duration of the 2008-09 ice season was longer than normal in the Estuary, normal in the central Gulf and Cabot Strait, and shorter elsewhere. This was mostly associated with the variability of the first occurrence of ice. Winter inflow of cold and saline water from the Labrador Shelf occupied the Mécatina Trough over the entire column in winter 2009. The spread of the intrusion was confined a bit closer to the coast compared to 2008 conditions, leading to an overall smaller volume of 1270 km³, which is similar to the 2002 observations. The winter cold mixed layer volume in the Gulf, excluding the Estuary, was 14 000 km³, a value higher than the 1996–2009 average by 0.7 SD. This cold-water volume corresponded to 42% of the total water volume of the Gulf. The cold intermediate layer (CIL) index for summer 2009 was -0.42°C, which is similar to observations in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2007. This is an increase of 0.32°C since 2008. On the Magdalen Shallows, almost none of the bottom area was covered by water with temperatures < 0°C in September 2009, similar to conditions in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Regional patterns of the August and September CIL show that the layers for T < 1°C and < 0°C were much thinner in most parts of the Gulf in 2009 than in 2008 and had a generally higher core temperature everywhere. In the northern Gulf, the area covered by low temperature water (< 1°C) decreased in 2009 relative to 2008 conditions. Temperatures in March 2009 were characterized by a very thick cold layer, including a thick intrusion of Gulf CIL waters into the Estuary. By June 2009, CIL temperatures returned to normal with a warming trend that continued into August, especially on the Magdalen Shallows. By October–November, CIL conditions were normal in most regions except the estuary and Northwest Gulf, where the CIL and the surface mixed layer were anomalously deep. Overall, temperature and salinity were generally normal from 150 m to 200 m, and slightly lower than normal at 250 and 300 m. Temperature and salinity at 300 m decreased for a third consecutive year, from 2008 to 2009. The lower-than-normal Gulf-wide water temperatures at 300 m were composed of normal waters in the Estuary and northwest and colder waters in the centre and coming into the Gulf at Cabot Strait. This cold anomaly has propagated inward in the last few years and is expected to continue toward the Estuary during the next few years.

DUFOUR, R., H. BENOIT, M. CASTONGUAY, J. CHASSÉ, L. DEVINE, P. GALBRAITH, M. HARVEY, P. LAROUCHE, S. LESSARD, B. PETRIE, L. SAVARD, C. SAVENKOFF, L. ST-AMAND, M. STARR, 2010. Rapport sur l'état et les tendances des écosystèmes marins canadiens en 2010. MPO, Secrétariat canadien de consultation scientifique, Avis scientifique, 2010/030(révisé), 43 p .

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BENOÎT, H.P., T. HURLBUT, J. CHASSÉ, 2010. Assessing the factors influencing discard mortality of demersal fishes using a semi-quantitative indicator of survival potential. Fish. Res., 106: 436-447 .

Understanding the factors affecting the likelihood that discarded fish will die can contribute to better management of resources by enhancing the potential for successful live release and by improving the estimation of otherwise unaccounted fishing mortality. Semi-quantitative measures of individual fish vitality or physical condition, obtained by at-sea observers aboard commercial fishing vessels, are often used as an indicator of survival potential for discarded fish. The present study and previous ones have shown that these measures relate well to eventual survival. However, observer subjectivity in fish vitality scoring can affect the precision and accuracy of inferences drawn from an analysis of the observations. Here we propose the use of a mixed-effects multinomial proportional-odds model, which is appropriate for modelling ordinal vitality data and is a useful approach for addressing observer scoring subjectivity. This model was used to analyse data collected for eleven fish taxa captured by four gear types. The effect of eight factors previously shown to affect discard survival was evaluated. The gear type used and amount of time that fish spent on deck prior to discarding most strongly and consistently affected the distribution of fish among vitality levels. Sea surface and air temperatures, and fish body size, were also important factors for a number of taxa, while other factors such as the depth fished, catch size and fishing activity duration were important only for certain taxa. A random effect in the model, used to account for observer subjectivity, was significant for most taxa and fisheries. Failure to account for this effect could affect both the precision and accuracy of inferences on the survival potential of discarded fish.©2010 Elsevier B.V.