Science Advisory Report  2016/020

Guidelines for providing interim-year updates and science advice for multi-year assessments

Summary

• Within Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) multi-year assessments are being undertaken for many stocks and there is a need to provide advice for interim years. This document provides guidance on providing advice to clients for the interim years between multi-year full stock assessments.
• The process for providing advice during interim years should be established early in the planning of the science advisory process for a given species or stock. Details of indicators, trigger values, harvest decision rules and measures to be undertaken need to be clearly identified during the full peer-reviewed stock assessment process.
• Indicators are proxies or metrics of stock status. They must be defined during the multi-year full stock assessment process, including those required for the application of harvest decision rules.
• Trigger values are pre-defined thresholds of an indicator which if crossed would signal a change in stock status that may warrant a re-assessment ahead of schedule or changes to management measures used for a particular species or stock. They must be defined during the multi-year full stock assessment process.
• Interim-year updates are the science response advisory processes that are carried out between full stock assessments. Interim-year updates may be produced annually or at less frequent intervals within the multi-year full stock assessment cycle. 
• Interim-year updates are scheduled during the full stock assessment processes, and should only be undertaken at a different schedule under exceptional circumstances.
• How the harvest decision rules are used with the indicator(s) to set harvest levels in the interim years should be clearly outlined at the full stock assessment processes.
• It should not be assumed that an interim-year update would be produced every year. The need for interim updates must be identified during the full stock assessment process.
• The development of indicators and trigger values, as well as the frequency of the interim-year updates, will be stock specific.

This Science Advisory Report is from the March 10-12, 2015 National Peer Review on Providing Science Advice to management in the interim years for multi-year stock assessments (Technical Expertise in Stock Assessments). Additional publications from this meeting will be posted on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science Advisory Schedule as they become available.

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