Proposed rules to determine inputs to the OMP should there be no hydro-acoustic survey result in November 2010 or May 2011

Estimates of sardine and anchovy resource abundance from hydro-acoustic surveys carried out in November and May each year form the key inputs into the OMP-08 formulae (de Moor and Butterworth 2008). OMP-08 is used to calculate the recommended annual directed sardine and anchovy TACs and sardine TAB. The Pelagic Scientific Working Group has recognised the need to agree on a “back-up plan” to implement in the unfortunate event that either the survey does not take place, or the survey does not achieve sufficient coverage to allow for a reliable estimate to be computed (DEAT 2009).