IFOP Important contribution to jack mackerel stock assessment in the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization:
November 4th, 2022
Face-to-face participants of jack mackerel workshop. From left to right and bottom to top: Pablo Couve, Jonathon Pincay, Ignacio Payá, Carolina Lang, Tiffany Vidal, Ricky Amoroso, Niels Hintzen, Jennifer Briones, Aquiles Sepúlveda, Dan Ovando, Maite Pons, James Ianelli, Martin Pastoors, Lee Qi (photo credit: report of the 2022 jack mackerel benchmark workshop (scw14)).
During July, review and improvement workshop (“benchmark”) of estimating abundance and biologically recommended catch for horse mackerel in the South-Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) procedure was held in Seattle. The workshop had a total of 53 participants, including 3 independent experts, and was held in a hybrid format (face-to-face and remote). The Chilean delegation that attended in person was headed by IFOP researcher Ignacio Payá, and included the participation of Carolina Lang IFOP researcher., Aquiles Sepúlveda INPESCA director, and Pablo Couve doctoral student. This delegation work was complemented by several researchers telematic contribution from IFOP and INPESCA, and administrators from Fisheries and Aquaculture Undersecretariat.
The main topic discussed during the workshop was the impact of the improvements made by IFOP in individual growth estimation , natural mortality and the proportion of mature fish at age. IFOP research lasted around 4 years and have now been officially incorporated into OROP-PS scientific advisory process. This new information led to the conclusion that jack mackerel stock is more productive than previously thought, with faster individual growth and higher abundance levels. This allows us to reaffirm that the stock condition has recovered to levels greater than the maximum sustained yield, and that this fishery precautionary management has been successful. This recovery is a first concrete step to improve the management of the ecosystem where this resource lives.
The final estimates with updated data until 2022 will be made this September at OROP-PS annual meeting of OROP-PS scientific committee, which will be held in the city of Seoul in South Korea.