Benchmark Workshop for Harp and Hooded Seals (WKBSEALS) ...

• Main Author: ICES
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: ICES Scientific Reports 2024
• Subjects: Pressures, impacts, conservation, and management; Greenland Sea ICES Ecoregion; Barents Sea ICES Ecoregion; Barents Sea; Greenland; White Sea; Greenland Sea; Harp Seal; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.24117546.v1; https://ices-library.figshare.com/articles/report/Benchmark_Workshop_for_Harp_and_Hooded_Seals_WKBSEALS_/24117546/1

The benchmark was tasked with evaluating proposed developments to the assessment model used for two stocks of harp seals (East Ice [White Sea/Barents Sea, seh.27.1] and West Ice [Greenland, seh.27.125a14]) and one stock of hooded seals (West Ice [Greenland, sez.27.2514]) in the Northeast Atlantic. The benchmark concluded that there were sufficient data to produce an assessment model for the West Ice (Greenland Sea) stock of harp seals but that data were insufficient for the East Ice (Barents Sea / White Sea) harp seal stock and too weak a signal for the West Ice hooded seals for viable assessments for these stocks. There has been no pup production survey for East Ice harp seals since 2013. In the absence of more recent survey data, the benchmark concludes that viable assessment of current stock status or catch advice cannot be produced. Furthermore, the most recent available pup production estimates indicated a poor status. There have been limited catches since 2019, and the benchmark recommends that a pup ...