The Science Advisory Report (Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat) on the Opportunity for Atlantic silverside and saury fisheries in NS portion of southern Gulf is available at the following link:

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/CSAS/Csas/Publications/SAR-AS/2009/2009_081_e.htm

Summary:

Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat
Science Advisory Report 2009/081

Opportunity for Atlantic silverside and Atlantic saury fisheries in the Nova Scotia portion of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

Summary

The North Atlantic saury is a small (max. length about 50 cm), short-lived pelagic fish broadly distributed in the temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It spawns in the southern portion of its range in the Atlantic Ocean and it is assumed to consist of one stock. Off eastern North America, it is found from Newfoundland to North Carolina and into the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Atlantic silverside is a small-bodied (less than 15 cm), short-lived fish which is widely distributed in brackish and salt waters from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida. It spawns in the intertidal zone in estuaries throughout the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Based on their biological and ecological characteristics, Atlantic saury and Atlantic silverside are forage species.
At present, there is no directed commercial fishery for Atlantic saury in Canadian waters and attempts to exploit this species in the past were hampered by its sporadic abundance in this area.
In Canada, the silverside fishery is concentrated in Prince Edward Island. Total Canadian reported landings between 2000 and 2008 ranged from 200 to 650 t, representing 98% of the total commercial fishery landings for the species in eastern North America.
Based on the prerequisites in the Policy on New Fisheries for Forage Species, commercial fisheries on Atlantic saury and Atlantic silverside would not presently meet the conservation objectives. The main reasons are the lack of scientific information to inform on reference points, abundance and ecosystem interactions.
There is such a paucity of information on Atlantic saury in the western Atlantic and the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence that information which can be obtained during exploratory fisheries, specifically off Western Cape Breton, would benefit the development of a long-term management plan.
Based on the low number (2) of existing licences in Gulf NS, and information on the general distribution of silversides in the southern Gulf, there are opportunities for additionnal commercial effort on this species in this area.

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