2016 Assessment of the Rex Sole Stock in the Gulf of Alaska
February 14, 2016
Rex sole (Glyptocephalus zachirus) are assessed on a biennial stock assessment schedule to coincide with the availability of new survey data. For Gulf of Alaska rex sole in alternate (even) years we present an executive summary to recommend harvest levels for the next two years.
GOA rex sole is currently managed as a Tier 5 species because reliable estimates of F35% and F40%(required for Tier 3 management) are not available for this stock. However, rather than using biomass estimates from the NMFS bottom trawl survey to calculate ABC and OFL in the standard Tier 5 calculations, the assessment uses a Tier 3-type age-structured assessment model and projection model to estimate total adult biomass for use in the Tier 5 calculations. The single species projection model was run using parameter values from the accepted 2015 assessment model (McGilliard et al. 2015), together with updated catch information for 2015 - 2016, to predict stock status for rex sole in 2017 and 2018 and to make ABC recommendations for those years.