Groundfish Survey

West Coast Groundfish Stock Assessment

Support: National Marine Fisheries Service
Faculty and graduate students from the Punt Lab have been conducting research on the population dynamics and stock assessment of groundfish species occurring off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California since 2001. The research involves designing and testing quantitative methods for analyzing the population dynamics of groundfish species which could form the scientific basis for evaluating the consequences of alternative fisheries management actions. We collaborate with National Marine Fisheries Service scientists who are conducting quantitative stock assessments of west coast groundfish species on the implementation of the methods we develop. The project also aims to build expertise among NMFS and other scientists in the application of methods for conducting management-related research for west coast groundfish. The Fisheries Think Tank is held during the academic year to discuss current and ongoing research.

The following projects have been conducted under this research theme:

  • development of methods for assessing age-reading error and its implications for estimation of growth curves;
  • application of management strategy evaluation methods to understand the implications of the harvest control rules applied to west coast groundfish;
  • establishing and testing methods for developing indices of abundance for use in stock assessment;
  • development of methods for conducting rebuilding analyses for overfished groundfish species; and
  • exploring the consequences of implementing marine protected areas for stock assessment, conservation and management

The following students have worked on west coast groundfish issues:

  • Jason Cope (PhD, 2008) Issues and advances in data-limited stock assessment: Experimentation through simulation
  • Melissa Haltuch (PhD, 2008) Modeling human and climate impacts on the management of the Pacific north west groundfish fishery
  • Tommy Garrison (MS, 2010) The Value of Marine Protected Areas for Improving Stock Assessments
  • Chantel Wetzell (MS, 2011) Challenges of data-Limited Stock Assessments: Simple vs. Complex Stock Assessment Techniques and the Influence of Data
  • James Thorson: (PhD, 2011) Improved estimation of behaviors, ecological processes, and abundance trends in marine species using multi-species mixture distribution models, autonomous underwater vehicles, and multi-state tag-resighting models
  • Chantel Wetzell (PhD, In progress) Management strategy evaluation for the determination of annual catch limits using probability based methods for West Coast groundfish
  • Kelli Johnson (PhD, In progress) ??
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