Scoping workshop 3 on next generation of mixed fisheries advice (WKMIXFISH3)

WKMIXFISH are a series of workshops bringing together scientists, advice recipients, and stakeholders to identify future research and advisory priorities for mixed fisheries science. The third scoping workshop on the next generation of mixed fisheries advice (WKMIXFISH3) met to review changes to mixed fisheries considerations and progress on method development since the last workshop in March 2023.

The workshop focused on three areas of development. First, reviewing changes and clarifications to mixed fisheries considerations were incorporated in order to improve communication around the purpose and assumptions in the advice. Second, reviewing the substantial methodological development that has been undertaken by WGMIXFISH-METHODS and in EU and UK research projects. The focus of this work was to address an EU/UK joint request to ICES on mixed fisheries science. Third, discussing the outcome of a workshop on fleet and métier definitions (WKMIXFLEET) that took place the preceding two days.

Methodological developments included evaluation of uncertainty in mixed fisheries models, analyses of sensitivity to model assumptions, including fleet and métier structure, and creating new ways to explore mixed fisheries data. It was noted that these, in combination with new tools, guidance, and visualizations, helped to provide greater understanding of the models and advice. While these endeavours are ongoing, there was general support for the continued development; in particular, the deployment of a mixed fisheries online app to provide end-users and stakeholders with the ability to interact with the multifaceted outputs from mixed fisheries models. Support for, and engagement with, developments on using the Regional Database Estimation System (RDBES) data to make improvements to fleet and métier definitions was also highlighted.

Next steps identified were for WGMIXFISH-ADVICE and WGMIXFISH-METHODS to use the valuable feedback obtained to continue to develop the tools, implement and receive feedback on them as part of an iterative process. It was noted that further research and dedicated time for scientists was necessary to support the ongoing improvements to mixed fisheries advice and data products, and that this should be a priority.