Butterfish and Illex squid both have research track stock assessments scheduled for November 2021. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center is soliciting applicants for these assessment working groups. If you are interested in being a member of either working group, please fill out the google form by October 16, 2020. Please contact Michele Traver at michele.traver@noaa.gov with questions.
Below is some additional information about stock assessment working groups. General information about the stock assessment process is available in the Description of New England and Mid-Atlantic Region Stock Assessment Process document.
Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) Working Group (WG) eligibility and WG formation
The SAW WG is responsible for carrying out and making decisions about stock assessment and addressing the assessment terms of reference (TORs). Development of stock assessments by the SAW WG requires a high level of expertise and commitment. Effective assessment workgroups should be composed of individuals from several disciplines, and have a broad range of skills and expertise. SAW WG members must be objective, constructive, efficient, and productive. SAW WGs are not intended, or required, to include every expert or researcher involved in every assessment issue. A certain amount of debate and disagreement is normal among members of a SAW WG, but the group must decide, generally by consensus, how to move forward with assessment development using the best available science.
Eligibility
SAW WG members should not actively participate on another committee or panel whose purpose is to peer review the assessment products from the same SAW WG. This will maintain independence between those who produce the stock assessment and the subsequent peer review. In 2015 the NRCC decided that SSC members can serve on SAW WGs provided 1.)the SSC member makes this dual membership status well known to both the SAW WG and the SSC, and 2.)the SSC is not specifically peer reviewing that stock assessment.
SAW WG members must have expertise and education directly aligned with the expertise needed to address the specific assessment TORs for the stock assessment. Generally this includes experts in the following core assessment areas: Biology, Ecology/Ecosystem Science, Data and Survey Design (Fishery- Independent, Fishery-Dependent Data), Mathematics/Statistics and Modeling Methods, and Fishery Management. This includes experts involved with state, federal, or international fisheries, academics, or fisheries management entities. Persons familiar with the fishery may also have the necessary expertise.