Report of the Workshop Course on Fish Stock Assessment Techniques (WKCFAT)

The Workshop was intended to provide an opportunity for participants to explore assessment techniques and some of the tools available for their application. In particular the Workshop focussed on tools to perform age-structured analyses and stock abundance estimation, calculate reference points in the context of the Precautionary Approach, and carry out forecasts.
The Workshop examined of a wide variety of methods and datasets, in order to make the syllabus as appropriate to participants from as many different backgrounds as possible, and to ensure direct relevance to the work they will be expected to undertake in Working Groups. Model description, fitting procedures and the communication of results were covered. Discussion sessions held throughout the Workshop served to clarify technical questions on the use of the methods and common practices in stock assessment.