SEDAR 80 US Caribbean Queen Triggerfish - Puerto Rico Final Stock Assessment Report

SEDAR 80 US Caribbean Queen triggerfish assessment process consisted of a series of webinars between February 2021 and March 2022. There were three Topical Working Groups (TWGs) that met via webinar as part of this process: Life History, Indices of Abundance, and Fishing Behavior. SEDAR organized 2 webinars for the Life History TWG, three webinars for the Indices TWG, and three webinars for the Fishing Behavior TWG.

The Stock Assessment Report is organized into 2 sections. Section I - Introduction contains a brief description of the SEDAR Process, Assessment and Management Histories for the species of interest, and the management specifications requested by the Cooperator. Section II is the Assessment Process report. This section details the assessment model, as well as documents any data recommendations that arise for new data sets presented during this assessment process, or changes to data sets used previously.

The final Stock Assessment Report (SAR) for U.S. Caribbean Queen triggerfish for Puerto Rico was disseminated to the public in July 2022. The Council's Scientific and statistical Committee (SSC) will review the SAR for its stock. The SSCs are tasked with recommending whether the assessments represent Best Available Science, whether the results presented in the SARs are useful for providing management advice and developing fishing level recommendations for the Council. An SSC may request additional analyses be conducted or may use the information provided in the SAR as the basis for their Fishing Level Recommendations (e.g., Overfishing Limit and Acceptable Biological Catch). The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's SSC will review the assessment at its August 2022 meeting, followed by the Council receiving that information at its August 2022 meeting. Documentation on SSC recommendations are not part of the SEDAR process and is handled through each Council.

To provide a report of the assessment of the US Caribbean Queen Triggerfish - around the Puerto Rico area.

Original Version of the Assessment Report

SEDAR. 2022. SEDAR 80 - US Caribbean Queen Triggerfish - Puerto Rico Final Stock

Assessment Report. SEDAR, North Charleston, SC. Available online at:

http://sedarweb.org/sedar-80