Species Interactions Workshop

Monday, June 8, 2015

Virginia Beach, VA

Agenda

On June 8, 2015, the Council convened a workshop with scientists and managers to discuss potential strategies to more fully consider species interactions and climate drivers in the stock assessment and management process (including determination of catch limits), and to build capacity within the region to conduct comprehensive management strategy evaluations (MSEs) as part of the Mid-Atlantic Council’s Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM). The workshop reviewed existing single species approaches as well as information and analytical tools available to address key interactions between species and their environment, between species within the food web, and between the ecosystem and fisheries, and between fleets due to technical or management issues. The workshop and the resulting white paper explore alternative pathways to incorporating species and fisheries interactions into the Council’s fishery management policies and programs as part of the development of its EAFM Policy.