Methods Workshop Scheduled for Atlantic Menhaden Single-Species and Ecological Reference Point Stock Assessments

October 18, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Ecological Reference Point (ERP) Work Group and Atlantic Menhaden Stock Assessment Subcommittee (SAS) will be meeting November 4 – 8, 2024 at the Westin Crystal City, 1800 Richmond Highway, Arlington, VA, to continue work on the development of the single-species and ERP stock assessments. The SAS will meet November 4-5 to discuss natural mortality estimates and updates to the single-species model, while the ERP Work Group will meet November 5-8 to explore various modeling approaches to evaluate the health of the stock and inform the management of the species in an ecological context. The deadline for the submission of data and alternate multispecies/ecosystem models has passed.

An Assessment Workshop is anticipated to be held in February 2025 to finalize both assessments. The ERP assessment is scheduled to be peer reviewed later in 2025 through the SouthEast Data Assessment Review process. Visit the Commission’s website calendar (http://www.asmfc.org/calendar/) for information on the dates and times of those meetings.

All Commission assessment workshops are open to the public. Time may be allotted for public comment at the discretion of the Chairs of the ERP Work Group and SAS, but may also be limited to keep the workshop on schedule. Additional information on the workshop can be found here.

For more information about the assessments or attending the workshop, please contact James Boyle, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at jboyle@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740, or Jainita Patel, Fisheries Science Coordinator, at jpatel@asmfc.org or 703.842.0720.