ICES Guidelines for advice on fisheries that concurrently catch a mix of stocks of the same species

The guidelines describe the issues related to the provision of advice for fisheries that occur concurrently on multiple stocks of the same species. They provide guidance on how such advice should be formulated under circumstances with different levels of information about stock mixing in these concurrent fisheries. The information in this document is relevant for ICES expert groups delivering evidence for advice on fishing opportunities, for advice drafting groups, and for interested policymakers, stakeholders, and the wider scientific community.

The amount of information available will determine the type of advice that can be given. However, advice should be consistent with ICES advisory framework; specifically:

• Advice should be precautionary for all stocks in a fishery which concurrently catches a mix of stocks of the same species.
• The advice for individual stocks should be set according to the ICES advice rules including if the stock is below B_lim. In such situations, advice should be for zero catch where there is no fishing mortality that will recover the stock to above B_lim with > 50% probability in the year after the year for which the advice applies.
• Information on the existence of a concurrent fishery on stocks should be included in the headline advice.
• Information on concurrent fisheries should be included in the advised catch levels in the headline advice to the extent possible.