Report of the Working Group for the Assessment of Demersal Stocks in the North Sea and Skagerrak (WGNSSK), 30 April–7 May 2014

The ICES Working Group for the Assessment of Demersal Stocks in the North Sea and Skagerrak (WGNSSK) met 30 April – 7 May 2014 at ICES Headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. There were 26 participants (four by correspondence) from 9 countries. The main  terms  of  reference  for  the  Working  Group  were:  to  update,  quality  check  and  report relevant data for the working group, to update and audit the assessment of the stocks, to produce a first draft of the advice on the fish stocks and fisheries under con-sideration, to prepare for benchmarks next year and to update the description of major regulatory changes and comment on the potential effects of such changes. Ecosystem changes  have  been  analytically  considered  in  the  assessments  for  cod,  haddock  and  whiting in the form of  time varying natural mortalities estimated by the ICES Working Group on Multi Species Assessment Methods (WGSAM).