April 5, 2013 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Arlington, VA — This spring, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will begin work on the 2014 benchmark stock assessment for Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus). The assessment will be used to evaluate the health of the stock and inform the management of this species. The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room.
The Commission welcomes the submission of data sources that will improve the accuracy of the assessment. This includes, but is not limited to, data on catch per unit effort, bycatch interactions, biological samples (length, age, frequency), life history information (growth, maturity, fecundity, spawning stock biomass weights, natural mortality), and tagging data. For data sets to be considered, the data must be sent in the required format, with accompanying description of methods, to the Commission by July 1, 2013.
The Data Workshop date and location have yet to be determined, but it is anticipated it will take place during the late summer. This workshop will review all available data sources for Atlantic sturgeon and identify data sets that will be incorporated in the stock assessment. For those interested in submitting data and/or attending the Atlantic Sturgeon Data Workshop (space is limited), please contact Dr. Katie Drew, ASMFC Stock Assessment Scientist, at 703.842.0740.