SEDAR 48 Data Workshop Report

SEDAR 48 addressed the stock assessment for Southeastern U.S. black grouper. The assessment process was planned to consist of a Data Workshop, an Assessment workshop and several assessment webinars, and a Review Workshop.

The Data Workshop was held March 15-17, 2017 in St. Petersburg, Florida. During that workshop, a variety of issues were raised regarding the data inputs to be used in the assessment, particularly with regards to the landings data. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC)/ Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI), the lead agency for this assessment, discussed the data issues and determined the best course forward was to halt the assessment until the data issues could be resolved.

The FWC provided a memo to the SEDAR Steering Committee for their May 2017 meeting, informing them of the decision to terminate work on the SEDAR 48 assessment. FWC also provided a summary of the data that was reviewed at the Data Workshop which included the following summary:

After reviewing the data available for developing an assessment of Black Grouper, the life history information can be used straight away. The confusion of Black Grouper and Gag renders the landings data suspect before 2006 (2005 in the case of SRHS) and the high uncertainty in the MRFSS/MRIP estimates makes the MRFSS/MRIP catches almost meaningless. The commercial indices could not be updated because they are retained catch indices and IFQ, trip limits, and changes in minimum sizes. The age composition data are adequate for the commercial hook-and-line and longline but too sparse for the other fisheries and the length information coverage is better than that of ages but is light in many years especially for the headboat and commercial spearfishing. Overall, the landings data are the primary stumbling block for developing a credible stock assessment for Black Grouper. Landings scale the fishing mortality and natural mortality rates to the population size and, in turn, the biomass. Therefore, the high degree of uncertainty precludes determining the status of the stock