BSAI Chapter 3

NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service)

The longline survey abundance index increased 14% from 2016 to 2017 following a 28% increase in 2016 from 2015. The lowest point of the time series was 2015. The fishery abundance index decreased 23% from 2015 to 2016 and is the time series low (the 2017 data are not available yet). There was a new Gulf of Alaska (GOA) trawl survey in 2017 which increased 89% from 2015 to 2017. Spawning biomass is projected to increase rapidly from 2018 to 2022, and then stabilize. Sablefish are managed under Tier 3 of NPFMC harvest rules. Reference points are calculated using recruitments from 1977-2013. The updated point estimates of B40%, F40%, and F35% from this assessment are 98,332 t (combined across the EBS, AI, and GOA), 0.096, and 0.114, respectively. Projected female spawning biomass (combined areas) for 2018 is 88,928 t (90% of B40%, or B36%), placing sablefish in subtier “b” of Tier 3. The maximum permissible value of FABC under Tier 3b is 0.086, which translates into a 2018 ABC (combined areas) of 25,583 t. The OFL fishing mortality rate is 0.102 which translates into a 2018 OFL (combined areas) of 30,211 t. Model projections indicate that this stock is not subject to overfishing, overfished, nor approaching an overfished condition.

Stock Assessment