The application of new acoustic observations and techniques to stock assessment of walleye pollock in the eastern Bering Sea

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Better information on the abundance and distribution of fish stocks and their prey can improve stock assessment. Acoustic-trawl survey techniques are a proven means of providing this information and have the potential to offer further help to the stock assessment process (Trenkel et al., 2011). However, such new observations are costly and benefits to stock assessment and fisheries management decisions are sometimes unclear. We outline two examples of how new cost-effective sources of information on the semi-pelagic gadid walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) in the eastern Bering Sea are being used in stock and ecosystem assessments.