International Review Panel Report for the 2013 International Fisheries Stock Assessment workshop

The Panel recognised the very high quality of the research presented at the 2013 International Fisheries Stock Assessment Review Workshop. This included research on South African hake, sardine, and linefish, as well as research associated with the BCC ECOFISH project. The Panel thanked the workshop participants for their hard work preparing and presenting the workshop papers, for the extra analyses undertaken during the workshop, and for the informative input provided during discussions.

This report starts with observations from the Panel on some general issues for the species/programmes reviewed, and then focuses on the more detailed technical review and recommendations concerning each. The Panel deliberations for the South African hake and sardine were guided by a set of key issues (see Appendices 1 and 2) and the text in square parentheses at the end of some of the recommendations reflects the corresponding key issue(s). The Panel did not have time to address all of the key questions. The recommendations are annotated by their priorities (H, M, L) and conclusions are indicated by asterisks.