Review of Indian Ocean albacore biological parameters for stock assessments

We reviewed the stock structure and seven biological parameters of ALB (albacore) for IOTC stock assessments by Stock Synthesis (SS3), Statistical-Catch-At-Size (SCAS) etc. to be conducted in July 2019 during WPTmT07 in Japan. Seven types of biological parameters are (1) sex ratio, (2) LW relation, (3) growth equation, (4) life span, (5) natural mortality, (6) fecundity and (7) maturity-at-age. In this review, we referred to parameters used in ISC and three RFMOs (ICCAT, WCPFC and IOTC) in the past. New biological information in the western Indian Ocean derived by Dhurmeea et al (2016) is included for reviews and discussions. During this data preparatory meeting for WPTmT07 in January 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we will evaluate and select the most feasible parameters for IOTC ALB stock assessments as a base case and a sensitivity. We suggest candidates but the final decision will be made by this data preparatory meeting