Atlantic Canada has lost another fish. Two scientists at Dalhousie University have discovered that one of the largest flatfish in the Northwest Atlantic, the barndoor skate, has gone the way of the northern cod and all but disappeared.

‘‘Long-term research surveys on the continental shelf between the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and southern New England reveal that ... the barndoor skate — Raja (aevis) — is close to extinction,'' says an article published Thursday in the esteemed journal Science.

The metre-wide fish was probably one of the first casualties of efficient harvesting methods introduced by large-capacity, transatlantic fleets in the 1950s.

Ransom Myers, who occupies Dalhousie's Killam chair of ocean studies, and Memorial University graduate student Jill Casey made the discovery after theorizing the probabilities and assessing the data.

The fish, a member of the shark family found only between Newfoundland and Cape Hatteras, has little value and was primarily taken as a secondary or bycatch on trawls for more lucrative species such as cod and redfish.

But Myers, among the most published researchers in his field, looked at the relatively late maturity of barndoor skates, their large size and the small number of eggs they lay — just 47 annually — and deemed them vulnerable.

His theory was borne out by Casey's assessments of surveys whose original purpose was to look at other species.

‘‘Forty-five years ago, research surveys on St. Pierre Bank (off southern Newfound-land) recorded barndoor skates in 10 per cent of their tows,'' says the peer-reviewed article. ‘‘In the last 20 years, none has been caught.''

The surveys weren't very effective in preventing over-harvesting of lucrative whitefish either — 40,000 Atlantic Canadians lost their jobs when open-ended moratoriums were slapped on cod and others in 1992 and '93.

Myers, who has traced cod's demise and criticized government management of the resource, said the lowly skate was simply overlooked.

‘‘No one thought to look at the long term,'' he said in an interview. ‘‘You're always concerned with what's happening this year and next year. If something's happening gradually over 40 years, you just don't notice.''

He said a few of the fish still survive, particularly on parts of Georges and Browns banks south of Nova Scotia where haddock fishing has been banned.

But he said the barndoor skate is still rare or can no longer be found over at least 80 per cent of its original habitat.

Jake Rice, co-ordinator of the Canadian Stock Assessment Secretariat, said Myers' findings are indisputable.

‘‘I don't think anybody would dispute the fact that the abundance of barndoor skate and a number of other related species have decreased over the time that we've had data,'' Rice said from Ottawa.
excerpt from the Evening Telegram
 

Draggers have destroyed the ocean bottom and destroyed the habitat of the barndoor skate. The Green Party would like the phasing out of draggers and stern trawlers.

 

TERRA NOVA GREENS

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