![]() ![]() The preferred temperature range was determined to be a very narrow 12-15☌, across several populations throughout the NW Atlantic. However the inshore summer water temperature does not always reach beyond 15☌, in which case the Winter Flounder would remain inshore. Usually this would result in a winter/deeper/offshore and summer/shoaler/inshore pattern. Although no Winter Flounder from Minas Basin itself were tagged, it appeared unlikely that much interchange occurred with the other concentrations.īy 1963 it had been determined that Winter Flounder moved offshore when the water got above 15☌ and returned to the shallows when the water cooled. Tagging studies conducted during these surveys, concentrated in the Annapolis Basin and Passamaquoddy Bay, gave very few recoveries to the east of the respective tagging locations. The FRB surveys indicated that Winter Flounder in the Bay of Fundy spawned inshore in the spring (May). By this time the FRB had formed the opinion that Winter Flounder contracted in range with declining population (limited preferred habitat), such that densities (and thus catch rates) could be maintained if a long enough break occurred between fishing periods. In 1952 32 boats took a million lbs of Winter Flounder, but about half of this came from a new fishing area discovered by the FRB off Cape St Mary, which tagging indicated was another population discrete from that in St Mary's Bay. Seasonal movements of short distances were apparent, associated with adjustments to depth. And results of the tagging studies made a clear argument for a discrete St Mary's Bay population. It became obvious from high tag recapture rates and rapidly declining commercial catch rates from 1948-1950 that St Mary's Bay could not sustain the fishing pressure directed on it. The FRB exploratory surveys, continuing throughout the late 1940's and early 1950's, also found Winter Flounder concentrations in Minas Basin and Annapolis Basin, and fisheries initiated in these Basins in 1949. The Canadian Winter Flounder fishery began in St Mary's Bay in 1948, as did the tagging studies. The development is described on an annual basis in the FRB series Report of the Atlantic Biological Station (known today as the St Andrews Biological Station), and was accompanied by extensive tagging studies. A Canadian commercial fishery for Winter Flounder did not exist until 1948, when exploratory surveys by the Fisheries Research Board (FRB) revealed large concentrations of Winter Flounder in certain parts of the Bay of Fundy. Being concentrated in coastal areas of the Bay of Fundy, inside the 12-mile limit in effect prior to 1977, these fish were largely 'off the map' to the foreign fisheries that dominated the industry before World War II. Winter Flounder has an interesting history in Canada. Sight feeders, they are usually dormant at night and active by day, except when spawning, which is conducted mostly at night. They have an average lifespan of 11 years for males and 12 years for females.Ĭoncentrated in coastal bays and inlets around the Bay of Fundy, Winter Flounder have a wide salinity tolerance, and occur in waters ranging from typically oceanic to brackish estuaries. They can grow to a length of 50 cm or more. On the eyed side, their scales are rough. Usually winter flounders are brown, reddish-brown or olive green-nearly black in some cases-with a pale white underside. Their body colour varies according to that of the ocean floor. They have a small mouth with few teeth (sometimes none at all). Winter flounder are oval-shaped fish, strongly compressed and with a fairly straight lateral line leading to a rounded tail. They have been known to venture into the brackish waters near rivers or estuaries. Winter flounder live on a variety of substrates: muddy, sandy or pebbled bottoms at fairly shallow depths (usually less than 100 metres). Their range is limited to the western Atlantic. Winter flounder are distributed from the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Georgia in the south. ![]()
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