Report of the Roundfish Working Group - Part 1 of 2

The terms of reference for this Working Group are given in C.Res.1988/2:4:12.

"The North Sea Roundfish working Group will be renamed the Roundfish working Group (Chairman Mr D.W.Armstrong) and will meet in Aberdeen from 12-24 October 1989 to:

a) evaluate further the validity of the present stock unit definitions for assessment and management purposes, particularly for cod and whiting in sub-area VII:

b) assess the state of and provide catch options for 1990 within safe biological limits for the stocks of cod, haddock, whiting and saithe in Sub-areas IV and VI (Including Division IIIa for saithe); cod, haddock and whiting in Divisions VIId,e and Divisions VIIb,c,h-k (including Division VlIg for haddock); and saithe in Sub-area VII; for the stocks in Sub-area IV, the assessments should be made on the basis of the following assumptions:

i) there is no change in the regulations from 1989 to 1990; existing minimum mesh

ii) a minimum mesh size of 120mm will apply to "fishing for cod" in 1990; in order to make realistic assumptions concerning the definition of "fishing for cod", a range of scenarios should be examined in which the proportion of the total catch of cod taken in the other fisheries remains in the range 30-50%;

c) consider the results of the June 1988 and 1989 meetings of the Multispecies Assessment Working Group, particularly the latter when examining the effects of a minimum mesh size when "fishing for cod";

d) advise on appropriate strategies for minimizing the potential for exceeding the TACs on individual North Sea roundfish stocks while maximising the overall yield from these stocks;

e) provide quarterly catch-at-age and catch and stock mean weight-at-age data and information on the relative distribution at different ages by quarter for cod, haddock, whiting, and saithe in the North Sea for 1988 as input for the multispecies VPA;
f) assess the effects of the cod box in the German bight