Issues surrounding the development of a revised OMP for the SA pelagic fishery for sardine and anchovy

Cunningham, Carryn L; Butterworth, Doug S

Issues surrounding the development of a revised OMP for the SA pelagic fishery for sardine and anchovy

Working Paper

2006

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Marine Resource Assessment and Management Group

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Abstract

The current Operational Management Procedure (OMP) for South African sardine and anchovy, OMP-04, is based on assessments using data up to November 2003 (Cunningham and Butterworth 2004a,b). This OMP will need to be updated in the near future to take account, in particular, of: i) Updated series of observed spawner biomass and recruitment, following correction for the saturation effect (capping), new target strength expressions and signal attenuation in dense sardine schools (Coetzee et al. 2006). The previous assessments did include an updated series, but this was not based on an entirely satisfactory calibration analysis. The assessment also needs to be updated to take further survey results since 2003 into account. In particular, recent surveys suggest that the peak in sardine abundance is now past, and this will impact a re-assessment of the stock-recruitment relationship to which resource projections are particularly sensitive.

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