Terms of Reference

Harvest Advice for Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) in British Columbia Waters for 2015

Regional Science Response Process – Pacific Region

January 2015
Nanaimo, British Columbia

Chairperson: Sean MacConnachie

Context

Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) from the Northeast Pacific (California Current) population has a distribution that can range between Baja California to southeast Alaska.  In the winter and spring months, most of the Pacific Sardine population resides in waters off the California coast.  Prior to, and during summer months, large aggregations of Pacific Sardine migrate from key spawning habitat to more northern waters, but migratory patterns can be affected by population size and oceanographic conditions.  Typically, most Pacific Sardines that migrate into British Columbia (BC) waters are the larger and older fish in the population.  Pacific Sardine were not observed in 2013, or in 2014, during the annual pelagic trawl survey conducted in BC waters, nor were any detected by the Canadian commercial Pacific Sardine fleet in those years.  The Northeast Pacific Sardine population has been declining since a peak in 2007.

In 2013, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) adopted a new harvest control rule that applies a harvest rate to the estimate of age-1 and older biomass that exceeds 150,000 t (DFO 2013) to calculate potential harvest. As described in the 2013 review, a range in harvest rates (h) from 3-5% was selected to calculate potential harvest options.

A CSAS Science Response (DFO 2014) provided 2014 BC fishery harvest options based on both the US Pacific Fishery Management Council assessment model’s July 2013 age 1+ biomass estimate and a January 2014 age 1+ forecast. The age 1+ July 2013 biomass estimate and the January 2014 biomass forecast were both results from a modified projection assessment that was informed by 2013 catch data, but 2013 survey and biological data were not included in that assessment (Hill 2013).

The most recent full U.S. assessment of the Northeast Pacific Sardine population was conducted in in the spring of 2014 and was informed by data sets representing fishery landings, biological data and biomass surveys updated until December 2013 (Hill et al 2014).  Due to the changes in the U.S. Pacific Sardine assessment and management schedules, the most recent estimate of stock status reported in the spring assessment was a January 2014 biomass estimate, but the assessment also generated a July 2014 biomass forecast.

DFO Fisheries Management Branch has requested that Science Branch incorporate the updated data, associated July 2014 biomass forecast, and the previously reviewed harvest advice approach and provide harvest advice for Pacific Sardine for the 2015 season.  The assessment arising from this Canadian Science Advice Secretariat (CSAS) Science Response (SR) will be used to inform management decisions on the 2015 Total Allowable Catch (TAC).

Objectives

Science information and advice will be prepared on harvest options for Pacific Sardine in BC following a Science Response process and reported in the document:

DFO. 2015. Harvest advice for Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) in British Columbia waters for the 2015 season. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Resp. 2015/nnn.

The objectives of this SR process are to:

1. Report the results of applying the harvest control rule for a range of harvest rates from 0.03 to 0.05 in increments of 0.01.
2. Identify uncertainties associated with harvest advice.

Expected Publication

• Science Response

Participants

• DFO (Science, Fisheries Management)
• Province of British Columbia
• NOAA
• Commercial fishing industry

References

DFO 2013. Review of harvest control rules for Pacific Sardine and seasonal biomass and migration in British Columbia for 2013. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2013/037.

DFO. 2014. Harvest advice for Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) in British Columbia waters for the 2014 season. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Resp. 2014/026.

Hill, K.T. 2013. Pacific sardine biomass projection in 2013 for U.S. management during the first half of 2014. Pacific Fishery Management Council, Nov, 2013 Briefing Book, Agenda item E.5.b

Hill, K.T., Crone, P., Lo, N.C.H., Demer, D.A., Zwolinski, J.P., Dorval, E. and Macewicz, B.J. 2014. Assessment of the Pacific sardine resource in 2014 for U.S.A management in 2014-15. Pacific Fishery Management Council, April 2014 Briefing Book, Agenda Item H.1.b. 182 p