DLMtool Phase II: Developing a Management Strategy Evaluation Package for Advancing the Science and Management of Data-limited and At-risk Canadian Fish Stocks

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is providing $461,000 via the Partnership Fund for this multi-year project led by Dr. Tom Carruthers at the University of British Columbia, for the customization of the Data-Limited Toolkit ("DLMtool") software to address a stock assessment gap identified in the 2016 Report of Canada's Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD). The next stage of work has the potential to transform Canada's stock assessment advisory process by making it possible to include advice on data-limited and at-risk Canadian fish stocks within the computer simulation model, thus improving the usefulness of the simulation outputs for use in fisheries management.

The DLMtool simulation software can be customized to rapidly evaluate fishery management systems, including stock assessment methods, data collection protocols and biological reference points. The software tool identifies the best stock assessment method for meeting sustainable fishery objectives, and then uses that method to generate sustainable catch advice.

Previously, the team customized the software to include operating models for several BC groundfish stocks; incorporated metrics consistent with criteria set by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC); implemented a new age-structured analysis system and evaluated the performance of alternative management strategies for stocks including Canary Rockfish and Rougheye Rockfish. Phase II builds on this work and will add new modules to address more complex management challenges including multispecies fisheries, ecosystem effects and climate change.

Project number: PAC2016.12
Year(s): 2017, 2018, 2019, 20202018-09-21
Partner: University of British Columbia
Principal Investigator: Dr. Tom Carruthers
Eco-region: National