Exploring natural mortality assumptions for the sardine assessment

<p dir="ltr">A range of alternative fixed natural mortality rates are tested for the Cold Temperate Sardine off the west coast of South Africa, together with a range of alternative fixed differences in the 0-year-old natural mortality rate between Cold Temperate Sardine off the west coast and Warm Temperate Sardine off the South Coast. The impact of assuming natural mortality increases by a fixed amount off the ‘less preferred’ coast for each stock is also considered. These results can be used to select fixed values for the baseline Operating Models and robustness tests for the upcoming Management Strategy Evaluation.</p>