Resource Ecology & Fisheries Management (REFM) Division
Status of Stocks & Multispecies Assessment Program
Stock Assessment Improvement Workshop
Stock assessment scientists from the Status of Stocks and Multispecies Assessment (SSMA) Program in Seattle and the Marine Ecology and Stock Assessment (MESA) Program at Auke Bay Laboratories in Juneau, Alaska, held an internal stock assessment improvement workshop on 5 March. Despite being physically separated by almost a thousand miles, the two groups of scientists utilized state-of-the-art video conferencing technology and internet collaboration software to provide real-time linkage between the two programs. The joint workshop was held to facilitate communication among stock assessment scientists within the AFSC on a variety of topics ranging from "tips and techniques" to the requirements of the recently reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
Other discussion topics included revisions to guidelines for Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) documents, approaches for incorporating and reflecting uncertainty in harvest control rules, methods to incorporate length-based or time-varying selectivity in assessment models, and management strategy evaluations. Invited speakers from other AFSC programs also briefed the scientists on ecosystem analyses (REEM Program), upcoming changes to the Observer Program’s fisheries database (FMA Division), and the status of several scientific surveys that provide critical information for assessments (RACE Division).
By William Stockhausen
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