Response to SARC 55 Summary Report regarding Gulf of Maine Cod

In offering this response, we appreciate (as the SARC Committee themselves acknowledge in their Report) that limitations of time precluded their full consideration of the evidence available. Naturally we must point out the problems we see with certain (and key) parts of this Report, but we acknowledge that at least some of those problems may be a consequence only of inadequate availability of time to clarify issues at the Committee’s public sessions.

We respond under four headings. The material below intends a brief summary – the technical details of the arguments providing justification for our comments are to be found in the Appendix.