The reference operating model for the Indian Ocean swordfish stock was developed over the last three years and has been endorsed by the IOTC scientific committee. The OM was developed based on the 2020 WPB SS3 assessment, and covered the dynamics of the swordfish until the year 2018. This OM was updated to the current year, 2023, by projecting the stock forward based on the reported catches for 2019, 2020 and 2021 and assuming a 2022 catch at the 2021 level. A comparison of the OM with the output of the new 2023 stock assessment shows that the OM remains appropriate to describe the dynamics of the Indian Ocean swordfish stock as well as its current status.
