Overview
The Illex Working Group will address two closely related problems. The first is to develop an approach for in-year quota adjustments. The second is to lay the basis for a benchmark stock assessment (Research Track) in 2021. To some extent the data needs and analyses overlap. Each task will require involvement of scientists, industry, and managers. Both tasks are focused on the challenge of identifying appropriate catch limits for a dynamic, short-lived species whose survival, growth and abundance on the US shelf are driven by a complex interplay of environmental conditions. The relationship between removals and stock abundance is poorly understood; as a result no stock assessment model has been developed for this stock.
Contact
Jason Didden, Fishery Management Specialist, jdidden@mafmc.org, (302) 526-5254
Working Group Members: Jason Didden (MAFMC Staff, co-chair), Paul Rago (MAFMC Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), co-chair–population dynamics), Wendy Gabriel (MAFMC SSC, NMFS NEFSC–population dynamics), Sarah Gaichas (MAFMC SSC, NMFS NEFSC–ecosystems), Lisa Hendrickson (NMFS NEFSC–population dynamics), Kim Hyde (NMFS NEFSC–oceanographer in Ecosystem Assessment and Dynamics Branch), Ben Galuardi (NMFS GARFO–Statistics), Doug Christel (NMFS GARFO–Policy), Peter Hughes (MAFMC, MSB Committee Chair), and Anna Mercer (NMFS NEFSC–Cooperative Research).
Status
Technical analyses are ongoing.