Report of the Multispecies Assessment Working Group - Part 1 of 2

The terms of reference (C. Res. 1990/2:5:27) are:

a) continue the development of multispecies methods of assessment;

b) consider how to better incorporate predation on and by o-group fish in quantitative models of interspecies predation, particularly with regard to data to be collected in the 1991 Stomach Program;

c) conduct medium and long-term stochastic simulations incorporating multispecies effects, with emphasis on functional feeding relationships and stock/recruitment relationships;

d) explore the utility of various population attributes for comparing underlying trophic mechanisms among exploited ecosystems;

e) continue the development of multispecies models for Arctic/boreal ecosystems, focusing on problems of joint management of interacting species;

f) conduct statistical analyses of the underlying relationships in Arctic/boreal ecosystems of cod growth to prey abundance and environmental variability, focusing on time-series data concerning:

i) cod growth increments,

ii) population abundance of cod and its prey,

iii) environmental conditions,

iv) stomach content and consumption data;

g) for Arctic/boreal ecosystems, compile and explore existing predation data (stomach content, consumption estimates) for fish, marine mammals and birds, and make such data available in a common (disaggregated) format for future analyses;

h) advise on the consequences for other fisheries of fishing large quantities of prey species, in particular, Norway pout and sandeel in the North Sea.