2015 ISSF Stock Assessment Workshop “Characterising uncertainty in stock assessment and management advice”

This Workshop was convened by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) to review progress made recently by tuna Regional Fishery Management Organizations (tRFMOs: CCSBT, IATTC, ICCAT, IOTC and WCPFC) towards the formal adoption of harvest strategies for the management of the stocks under their jurisdiction, with a special focus on the treatment of uncertainty and the estimation of risk. This progress involves improved data collection, adoption of target and limit reference points, and analyses of the performance of alternative harvest control rules through management strategy evaluations. This report summarizes what the tRFMOs have adopted and also highlights related work that supports the RFMO processes. The workshop concluded that good progress is being made overall, especially through the processes of dialogue between scientists and managers that have been initiated in ICCAT, IOTC and WCPFC. The report also makes recommendations for furthering these efforts.