Report of the Benchmark Workshop on Greenland Halibut Stocks (WKBUT), 26-29 November 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark

WKBUT 2013 met from 26 to 29 November 2013 at ICES Headquarters. The meeting was co-chaired by ICES Chair Jesper Boje (Denmark) and External Chair Joanne Morgan (Canada). David Miller (Netherlands) and Hans Lassen (Denmark) participated in the meeting as invited external experts. A total of 21 participants from eight countries were in attendance.
The main goals and objectives of the meeting were to compile and evaluate data sources for stock assessment, investigate assessment models suitable to provide information on stock status and to update the relevant stock annexes for two stocks. These were Greenland Halibut in Subareas V, VI, XII, and XIV and Northeast Arctic Greenland Halibut in Subareas I and II. A review of the stock in NAFO Subareas 0 and 1 was also undertaken (see ToR in Annex 1). In addition issues related to ageing
and maturity staging were discussed.