Draft SSC Report December 2023 - Administrative and Harvest Specifications Summary

Sep 13, 2026

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December 2023 draft SSC report compiles administrative discussion points, the IRA funding workplan, and subsequent workshop recommendations to strengthen climate readiness and case-study development for SCS8. It documents SSC review and approval recommendations for B1 plan team nominations, and details C4 GOA groundfish harvest specifications, including Walleye pollock and GOA Pacific cod assessments, key model selections, stock status indicators, and guidance on ABC/OFL and apportionment methodology.

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Pages30

Reading Time11 min

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Draft SSC Report December 2023

Administrative Discussion and IRA Funding Workplan

B1 Plan Team Nominations

C4 GOA Groundfish Harvest Specifications

C3 GOA Groundfish Harvest Specifications

Draft SSC Report December 2023 Balance of SSC Report Administrative Discussion IRA Funding Workplan ● The SSC received an update from Diana Evans (NPFMC) on the IRA funding proposal to enhance the Council’s climate readiness ○ Programmatic EIS initiated in June 2023 ○ Analytical work/workshops to further work identified in the SSC February 2023 workshop ● The SSC supports the proposed projects ○ Notes that the scope would need to be limited to meet constrained timelines ● The SSC suggests an SSC-only workshop in February 2024 to outline case studies from the North Pacific to bring to SCS8 Administrative Discussion IRA Funding Workplan ● The SSC also suggests an additional workshop in April ○ Broader participation ○ Scope an analysis focused on including socioeconomic information for sablefish in a climate change context ○ Could be extended to include spatial considerations such as apportionment ○ Results potentially broadly applicable B1 Plan Team Nominations ● The SSC considered the nominations for: ○ Dr. Lukas DeFilippo to the BSAI groundfish plan team ○ Mr. Ethan Nichols to the BSAI crab plan team ● The SSC finds these nominees to be well-qualified and recommends the Council approve their nominations C4 GOA Groundfish Harvest Specifications Overview ● Alaska wide-1 full/update assessment (sablefish) ● GOA-5 full; 3 update; 7 harvest projections; 5 catch reports ● No stocks were subject to overfishing and, for Tier 1-3 stocks, none are overfished or approaching an overfished state ● Stocks where the SSC recommended harvest specifications or area allocations differed from GOA GPT were: ○ GOA pollock ○ Shortraker rockfish ○ Other rockfish C4 GOA Groundfish Harvest Specifications Walleye pollock ● Annual full assessment ● An ESP was included and indicated neutral ecosystem and socioeconomic conditions ● Spawning biomass is higher than last year and above B40% ● Tier 3a for in W/C/WYAK, Tier 5 in SEO ● The SSC recommends Model 23.0 for W/C/WYAK, in agreement with authors and PT o Change to new modeling platform ● The SSC supports author and PT recommended OFL for W/C/WYAK and ABC/OFL for SEO, but a reduction from max ABC for W/C/WYAK C4 GOA Groundfish Harvest Specifications Walleye pollock ● The SSC was concerned with the mixed signals from the abundance indices and rapid increase then decline in ABC, and recommended ABC halfway between 2023 ABC and the 2024 maxABC (18% reduction from max) ● The SSC agrees with the previously accepted methodology for apportioning the ABC between areas and between the new A (formerly A&B) and B (formerly C&D) seasons. ● The SSC recommends ○ Further exploration of biomass scale changes and potentially further constraining catchability ○ Further exploration of recruitment variability and investigating extreme low recruitment estimates ○ Evaluation of inclusion of fishery weight at age in the new model platform C4 GOA Groundfish Harvest Specifications GOA Pacific Cod ●Operational update assessment ●Projected 2024 spawning biomass the stock is estimated to be at B29 .7%, less than B40% ● The 2023 bottom trawl survey index increased by 53% compared to 2021, and the 2023 longline survey increased by 32%, suggesting improvement in stock status ● Both indices remain below their long-term average. ● Authors presented two models, Model 19. 1a, a strict update, and model 19. 1b, a model where conditional age-at-length minimum sample size was adjusted from 1 to 0.001, to correct for an earlier oversight. C4 GOA Groundfish Harvest Specifications GOA Pacific Cod ● The SSC recommends Model 19. 1b, in agreement with the authors and GPT, based on: ○ Reasonable response to new assessment data ○ Correction to previous weighting of conditional age at length data. ● The SSC agrees with the recommended harvest specifications and area allocations. ○ No reduction from maxABC C3 GOA Groundfish Harve

FAQs

What does the IRA funding workplan recommend for SSC activities?

The SSC supports programmatic work initiated in June 2023 and recommends additional workshops, including a February 2024 SSC-only workshop and an April workshop with broader participation and socioeconomics-focused scope.

Who were the nominees considered by the SSC for plan team roles?

The SSC considered Dr. Lukas DeFilippo for the BSAI groundfish plan team and Mr. Ethan Nichols for the BSAI crab plan team, and recommended Council approval based on being well-qualified.

What are the key harvest specification outcomes for Walleye pollock and GOA Pacific cod?

For Walleye pollock, the SSC recommends Model 23.0 and an ABC halfway between 2023 ABC and the 2024 maxABC, with further analysis on biomass scale changes and recruitment variability. For GOA Pacific cod, it recommends Model 19.1b, agrees with the harvest specifications and area allocations, and reports no reduction from maxABC.

Sep 13, 2026

Upload by Jasmine