Report of the Working Group on the Assessment of Norway Pout and Sandeel

At the 80th Statutory Meeting it was decided (C. Res. 1992/2:8: 17) that the Working Group on the Assessment of Norway Poutand Sandeei (Chairman: Mr D. W. Skagen, Norway) should meet at ICES Headquarters from 6-12 October 1993 to:

a) update the description of the historical development of the fleet units exploiting Norway pout and sandeei and the catches of these species and the by-catch species;

b) quantify the species composition of by-catches taken in the fisheries for Norway pout and sandeel in the North Sea and adjacent waters;

c) resolve the age compositions of the 1990 catches

to allow the time series of catch-at-age data to be maintained;

d) assess the status of Norway pout and sandeel in Sub-area IV and Divisions IlIa and VIa and advise on the need for any management measures, taking into account the outcome of the meeting ofthe Working Group on Methods of Fish Stock Assessment;

 

e) provide the data requested by the Multispecies Assessment Working Group;

f) provide information on the industrial fish stocks (Norway pout and sandeei), their age structures, their stock distributions, and their fisheries on an ICES statistical rectangle basis, in order to allow the Working Group on Ecosystems Effects of Fishing Activities to quantitatively evaluate the effects of industrial fisheries in the ecosystem;

g) prepare for the transfer of the Group's work to

area-based Working Groups in 1994.