Suggested approach for calculating potential lost catch if there is no November 2024 biomass survey.

As a result of budget constraints, the Department is unlikely to be able to conduct a November 2024 hydro acoustic biomass survey. Given that this survey is critical to the setting of catch limits for pelagic fish species for the 2025 fishing season, suggestions are offered for how a November biomass for each species may be projected/calculated and how such a biomass estimate could be used to set catch limits. Furthermore, consideration is given to how these catch limits would likely need to be decreased in light of the uncertainty of not having a November 2024 survey and how such reductions may be translated into estimates of cost to the fishing industry.