A state-space stock assessment model for northern cod, including under-reported catches and variable natural mortality rates

• Main Author: Cadigan, Noel G
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 2015
• Subjects: Newfoundland; Gadus morhua
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/69699; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfas-2015-0047

A state-space assessment model for the northern cod (Gadus morhua) stock off southern Labrador and eastern Newfoundland is developed here. The model utilizes information from offshore trawl surveys, inshore acoustic surveys, fishery catch age-compositions, partial fishery landings, and tagging. This is done using an approach that avoids the use of subjective data-weighting. Estimates of fishing mortality rates (F) are usually conditional on assumptions about natural mortality rates (M) in stock assessment models. However, by integrating much of the information on northern cod it is possible to estimate F and M separately. It is also possible to estimate a change in the offshore survey catchability by including inshore acoustic biomass estimates. The proposed model also accounts for biased total catch statistics which is common problem in stock assessments. The main goal of the model is to provide realistic projections of the impacts of various levels of future fishery catches on the recovery of this stock. The projections incorporate uncertainty about M and catch. This is vital information for successful future fisheries. The model has been developed for the specific data sources available for northern cod but it could be adapted to other stocks with similar data sources. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.