Assessment of Witch Flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus) in NAFO Divisions 2J3KL

This document presents information considered at the May 2022 regional peer review of Witch Flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus) in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Divisions (Div.) 2J3KL. Information available to evaluate stock status consisted of commercial landings data (1960–2021) and information from Canadian fall Research Vessel (RV) trawl surveys (1977–2021). This stock has been under moratorium in Canadian waters since 1995, and in the NAFO regulatory area since 1998. Following a contraction of the stock to shelf slope areas through the 1990s, the distribution of the stock has expanded in recent years, returning to deep channels occupied in the mid-1980s. A general increase has been observed in indices of abundance and biomass since the early-2000s, and indices indicate improved recruitment in recent years. In 2020 there is an 82% probability that the stock is below the Limit Reference Point (LRP), with biomass index at 89% of the LRP. Stock status in 2021 could not be determined as the RV survey in this year was incomplete.