Proceedings of the regional assessment of an Eastern Scotian Shelf shrimp (Pandalus borealis) framework

The overall objectives of the meeting were: 1. update descriptive information related to the fishery, the survey, biology, and ecosystem interactions of the target species; 2. review the assessment framework and identify if alternative approaches to assessing the fishery can be pursued (review the Traffic Light Analysis (TLA) and biological basis for considering each index to be relevant to the sh [...] The lead then provided an overall summary of the TLA used as a framework for assessing the stock, including a discussion on Harvest Control Rules and the interim assessment approach (and triggers of a full stock assessment in interim assessment years). [...] The anomaly was unintended and not the result of any concern regarding conduct of the fishery; again, the annual target for observer coverage is 5%. [...] The survey gear has maintained a configuration that the commercial fleet has moved away from to avoid flatfish as bycatch, so there is reason to believe the Trawl Survey flatfish catch over-represents bycatch of these species and could be considered to represent a ‘worst-case scenario’ of bycatch that may result from the fishery (given that the Trawl Survey and industry observer data are not easil [...] A recommendation was put forward that the Research Document make an explicit statement in the fishery section of the document that no discards of target species exist, and that full removals are accounted for in the fishery assessment.