Report of the Ad Hoc Group on Real Time Management and Harvest Control Rules for Norway Pout in the North Sea and Skagerrak (AGNOP)

On basis of an request from the EU Commission to ICES harvest control rules for Norway pout in the North Sea and Skagerrak have been evaluated during the ICES WKNOP Meeting in the ICES Headquarters, Copenhagen, 1-2 March in order to i) allow the Maximum Sustainable Yields (MSY) to be obtained and are consistent with the precautionary approach, and ii) to take into account the function of Norway pout in the ecosystem. The request included that in the evaluation it may be expected that the management of the Norway pout fishery will include the setting of preliminary catch and/or fishing effort limits at the beginning of the year until scientific information is available in spring allowing for the final maximum fishing effort and/or catch levels to be fixed. The harvest rules should therefore include rules for setting preliminary and final fishing effort levels (expressed as a percentage of the reference level in kW-days) and/or catch levels. Furthermore, the monitoring systems and assessment methodologies required to implement the advised harvest control rules should be adviced..