2015 Assessment of the Flathead Sole-Bering Flounder Stock in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
February 02, 2015
"Flathead sole" as currently managed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) in theBering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) represents a two-species complex consisting of true flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon) and its morphologically-similar congener Bering flounder (H. robustus). In 2012, the BSAI Groundfish Plan Team moved flathead sole to a biennial stock assessment schedule because it has been lightly exploited for a substantial period of time (BSAI Plan Team, 2012). A discussion at the September 2006 Groundfish Plan
Because 2015 is an “off” year in the assessment cycle for flathead sole, option 2 above was followed to update information for the 2015 stock assessment. Thus, the single species projection model was run using parameter values from the accepted 2015 assessment model (McGilliard et. al.2014), together with updated catch information for 2014 and 2015, to predict stock status for flathead sole in 2016 and 2017 and to make ABC recommendations for those years.