REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON METHODS OF FISH STOCK ASSESSMENTS (WGMG)

The purpose of the Working Group on Methods of Fish Stock Assessments (WGMG) is to develop and critically evaluate the models and software code used in assessments, forecasts and management simulations, and to suggest ways in which these might be improved. WGMG meets to address particular concerns raised by ACFM and the Resource Management Committee of ICES. The issues covered by each meeting are a function both of the Terms of Reference, and of the interests and expertise of the participants. The 2007 meeting of WGMG was held at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), NOAA, Woods Hole, USA. The principal reason for this was to draw on existing expertise at NEFSC on detecting and accounting for retrospective bias in fish stock assessments. The ToRs for the meeting were extremely wide, and covered many problems currently encountered in fisheries assessment and management science. With the time available WGMG could not address all the ToRs, so following an opening series of presentations of previous and current work, the group was divided into three subgroups to work on more focussed issues.