Proceedings 2014/036

Proceedings of the regional peer review of Reference points consistent with the fishery decision-making framework for Arctic Char in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut; January 25-26, 2011

Chairperson: R.F. Tallman

Summary

This document contains the proceedings of the regional advisory meeting pertaining to the assessment of commercially fished anadromous Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus) stocks in the Cambridge Bay area, with emphasis on reference points consistent with the fishery decision-making framework and temporal variation in biomass index. This review occurred on January 25-26, 2011, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was held in response to a request from the Fisheries and Aquaculture Management (FAM) sector of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in Central and Arctic Region for science advice on the current status and sustainable harvest levels for each of the current river systems in the Cambridge Bay commercial fishery, with emphasis on resolving precautionary reference points.

During the advisory meeting participants from DFO Science, DFO FAM, the University of Manitoba and an independent expert peer reviewed two working papers and a draft science advisory report. The first working paper was specific to the formulation of a biomass index and the second paper employed the biomass index to resolve precautionary reference points through a surplus production model. Participants agreed that given the lack of biological and catch-and-effort data that are often available for Arctic fisheries, the method used in this advisory process was a novel approach that will be useful for resolving precautionary reference points. This proceedings document summarizes the relevant discussions and presents the key conclusions reached at the meeting. The working papers presented at the meeting are published as Research Documents and the advice from the meeting is published as a Science Advisory Report on the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) website.

Complete document (PDF, 157 KB)

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