Assessment of the US South Atlantic Wreckfish using primarily Statistical Catch-at-Age Assessment Methodology following the Recommendations of the November 2013 SAFMC SSC Wreckfish Assessment Workshop

SCAA and dynamic Production Model assessments of the wreckfish resource are conducted following the specifications set out by a mid-November 2013 SAFMC SSC workshop. The results are generally rather robust across a wide range of scenarios. MSY for the Reference Case is estimated at 279 thousand lb. Dynamic Production models produce similar estimates for MSY. Adoption of the Lytton somatic growth curve removes an earlier conflict between the CPUE and CAL data, and leads to a relatively precise estimate of M of 0.037 yr-1. For most scenarios considered, the resource is above its MSY abundance level, and overfishing is not taking place. Projections to 2020 indicate that for most scenarios, quotas could be increased from the current 235 thousand lb by up to 100 thousand lb at least, without the resource falling below its MSY abundance. The primary exception to these results is if a Ricker stock-recruitment function is assumed, which leads to a higher estimate of the abundance corresponding to MSY.