Quantifying the impact on estimates of recruitment trends of previously unreported catches of age-0 bluefin tuna in the Meditteranean

We update the 2017 SCRS-agreed VPA assessment for the Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna to include previously unreported catches of age-0 tuna in the Mediterranean. Except for three years in the 1980s, the change in estimates of annual recruitment are negligible. The pattern that indicates a regime shift in the 1980s remains. We consequently propose no related change in the current specifications for the Reference Set of Operating Models for the Atlantic bluefin MSE.