Cod/Eelgrass

The major bays of Newfoundland and Labrador are prime habitat for coastal cod. The bay cod of Smith Sound in Trinity Bay and Gilbert Bay in Labrador are famous examples. We investigated whether Bonne Bay also has a bay stock of cod. For the past several years Marine Biology students at the Bonne Bay Marine Station have found juvenile cod in Deer Arm and East Arm of Bonne Bay, confirming that the bay is a nursery area for cod. But are these juveniles from cod spawning in the Gulf or from cod spawning in Bonne Bay?

A number of adult cod captured in Bonne Bay in 2007 have been tagged with Data Storage Tags (DSTs) which record the depth of the fish and its environmental temperature over several months. Fishers who recapture these tagged cod and return the DSTs to DFO will help us determine whether adult cod remain in Bonne Bay all year and spawn in the East Arm during the summer; or alternately, if these cod spawn in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and then migrate into Bonne Bay to feed. As we have seen along the northeast coast of Newfoundland, rebuilding bay cod stocks could help the recovery of the Gulf cod fishery.

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