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Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee Status Report 2018/01 : Eastern Georges Bank Cod
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2018
[PDF-663.53 KB]
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Alternative Title:TRAC. 2018. Eastern Georges Bank Cod. TRAC Status Report 2018/01
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Description:Combined Canada/United States of America (USA) catches in 2017 were 526 mt, which included 18 mt of discards. Survey biomass indices decreased for all three surveys and recruitment has been poor for the last 25 years. Relative fishing mortality has declined since 1995, although total mortality from all sources has remained high. The estimated adult population biomass at the beginning of 2018 from the Virtual Population Analysis (VPA) “M0.8” model was 9,502 mt. Recruitment at age 1 has been low in recent years, but the 2013 year class estimated from the VPA model at 4.4 million fish shows the highest estimated recruitment since 2000. Fishing mortality (ages 4-9) in 2017 was estimated from the VPA model to be 0.04. In 2017, only ages 3 and 4 were fully recruited. Consequently, the average fishing mortality on ages 4- 9 cannot be directly compared to the model reference F=0.11, so it is difficult to conclude whether a low risk of exceeding F=0.11 is being achieved. Lower weights at age in the population in recent years, a truncated age structure, poor recruitment, and high total mortality have contributed to the lack of rebuilding. The neutral risk catch advice is 676 mt and the low risk catch advice is 602 mt. According to the VPA model, even in the absence of fishing, the stock is not expected to increase from 2019 to 2020 or 2020 to 2021 due to the 2013 cohort entering the ages of high natural mortality. The Transboundary Resource Assessment Committee (TRAC) recommends remaining consistent with the Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) harvest strategy. The TRAC provides the results of the analyses this year, but cautions that the results are increasingly unreliable for management purposes, and an alternative approach for stock status advice is urgently required.
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Rights Information:Public Domain
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Compliance:Submitted
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