Report of the Working Group on the Assessment of Southern Shelf Stocks of Hake, Monk and Megrim (WGHMM)

The ICES Working Group on the Assessment of Southern Shelf Stocks of Hake, Monk and Megrim (WGHMM) met in ICES Headquarters during May 10-16 2013. There were 24 stocks in its remit distributed from ICES Divisions IIIa to IXa though mostly distributed in Sub Areas VII, VIII and IX. There were 17 participants (of whom 2 participated part time and 2 by correspondence). The group was tasked with carrying out stock assessments and catch forecasts and providing a first draft of the ICES advice for 2013 for 11 stocks. Several stocks, nine functional units for Nephrops and some of the new stocks from last year’s WG were listed as “biennial 2nd year”. For those stocks, catch and abundance indices information was updated. In addition, three new stocks were also added to the terms of reference in 2013 (two stocks of sea bass and one stock of striped red mullet).