Report on evaluation of harvest rules for Barents Sea capelin in subareas 1 and 2 (northeast arctic), excluding division 2.a west of 5°W - full report

Abstract

Following a recent benchmark for capelin (Mallotus villosus) in the Barents Sea (ICES 2023), the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission requested that alternative configurations of the existing capelin harvesting rule be reassessed. The existing rule has been in place since 1991 and states that TAC shall not exceed the value corresponding to a 95% probability of allowing 200,000 tonnes to spawn. The 200,000 tonnes limit was previously interpreted as the biological reference point Blim. During the benchmark however, Blim was differentiated from the limit used in the harvest control rule, now called Bescapement, which is now the biomass that must escape to spawn each spring with 95% probability. Blim was reassigned 68,000 tonnes and 200,000 tonnes was assigned to Bescapement at the benchmark. Three sets of harvest rules were requested to be evaluated: the first is the existing rule, which specifies Bescapement=200,000 tonnes; the second rule encompasses several alternative Bescapement values (100,000, 150,000, and 400,000 tonnes); and the third rule includes several fixed minimum quota values to be paired with the Bescapement values of the first two rules.

Report on evaluation of harvest rules for Barents Sea capelin in subareas 1 and 2 (northeast arctic), excluding division 2.a west of 5°W - full report