Terms of Reference

Pacific Herring Stock Assessment and Review of bio-sampling design

Pacific Regional Advisory Meeting

September 1 -3, 2010
Nanaimo, BC

Chairperson: Linnea Flostrand

Background

The CSAP Pelagics Standing Committee, along with additional invited participants as required, meets annually to review the stock status of Pacific herring populations and other related herring research and assessments.  These reviews are based on specific questions outlined in formal Requests for Science Information and Advice. The 2010 CSAP Pelagic Standing Committee meeting will review two research documents pertaining to Pacific herring stocks in British Columbia waters.  Additional review meetings may be held as required. 

The first research document investigates technical aspects of herring sampling coverage for stock assessment purposes. There has been ongoing interest to explore the cost-benefits and tradeoffs of varying spatial and temporal sampling coverage versus the effects on the precision of parameter estimates. Conclusions and recommendations from several past Pelagics PSARC (CSAP) Subcommittee review meetings have identified this need.  Furthermore, these types of evaluations are required in order recognize whether datasets in the time series can be used to distinguish different biological characteristics between regional stock groupings. This paper is intended to be the initial phase of a multi-stage plan to address sampling coverage and data quality questions. The intent of the working paper is to describe the 1980-present herring sampling protocols and time series datasets; to identify differences in age-composition under different sampling window time frames; to consider effective sample size, and to describe future recommended steps.

The second research document outlines the methods and results associated with applying updated datasets to a previously reviewed and accepted stock assessment model “Pacific herring assessment model version 2” (HCAMv2) in order to characterize trends and forecasts in abundance and stock structure (e.g. age and size composition). The document may also describe outstanding issues related to stock assessment methods, information gaps, and ecosystem considerations. For many years, resulting trends and forecasts from updated herring stock assessments have been applied into a precautionary decision making framework for the management of herring fisheries.

Objectives

Peer review the two working papers related to the assessment and management of Pacific Herring (titles and authors listed below), with regards to questions outlined in formal Requests for Science Advice and Information (bulleted below):

Review of the Biological Sampling Program for British Columbia Herring -by Jaclyn Cleary and Ashleen Benson

• What is the optimal spatial and temporal sampling coverage required to adequately characterize fish size and age structure of Pacific Herring stocks in the major assessment areas?
• Do the existing data indicate whether the precision of estimates of biological characteristics has changed over time?
• Are there differences in characteristics that might suggest separate biological stocks in some areas, e.g., Central Coast (CC) subareas 6, 7, and 8?

Stock Assessment and Management Advice for the British Columbia Herring Stocks: 2010 Assessment and 2011 Forecasts - by Jaclyn Cleary and Jake Schweigert.

• What is the stock status for Pacific Herring for the 2010 / 2011 fishing season by major and minor stock assessment area? How are herring stocks in these areas changing over time?
• What is the recommended harvest level for these areas?
• Are there any specific concerns that fisheries Management should be aware of, and if so , what are those concerns?

 Products

• CSAS Proceedings summarizing the subcommittee discussions on the reviews of the two papers.
• CSAS publication of approved research documents.
• CSAS Science Advisory Report, summarizing findings, science advice and key conclusions of review process associated with the research document “Stock Assessment and Management Advice for the British Columbia Herring Stocks, 2010 Assessment and 2011 Forecasts” review.

Participants

Participants (approx. 25) will include internal DFO representatives and invites from academia, First Nations, NGO’s and industry.