25 Highly Migratory Species Stock Status

Description: Summary of the most recent stock assessment results for each assessed Atlantic HMS species.

Found in: State of the Ecosystem - Gulf of Maine & Georges Bank (2022+), State of the Ecosystem - Mid-Atlantic (2022+)

Indicator category: Synthesis of published information

Contributor(s): Jennifer Cudney, Ben Duffin, Dan Crear, Tobey Curtis

Data steward: Jennifer Cudney,

Point of contact: Jennifer Cudney,

Public availability statement: Source data are publicly available.

25.1 Methods

25.1.1 Data sources

Data shared were collected from Atlantic HMS SAFE Reports (see 2021 report, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/atlantic-highly-migratory-species/atlantic-highly-migratory-species-stock-assessment-and-fisheries-evaluation-reports), Fishery Stock Status Determinations webpage (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/population-assessments/fishery-stock-status-updates), SEDAR assessments (www.sedarweb.org), ICCAT assessments (https://www.iccat.int/en/assess.html).

25.1.2 Data analysis

Stock status information is compiled annually from stock assessments completed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) (tunas, sharks, swordfish) and the Southeast Data Assessment and Review (SEDAR) (Atlantic HMS sharks). Species with a range of uncertainty estimates for F/Fmsy and B/Bmsy and assessments completed very recently may not be included in Stock Smart queries. We selected the most precautionary metrics for Fyr/Fmsy (high-end) and Byr/Bmsy (low-end).

Stock status information was plotted on a Kobe chart using modified code from the 2021 SOE Technical Documentation. Although Gulf of Mexico stock information is provided, we only plotted Atlantic stocks to maintain relevance. Atlantic blacknose shark was considered an outlier due to an Fyr/Fmsy = 22.53. The y-axis is not scaled to include this species in the Kobe plot, so it was added in the top left segment of the box with the Fyr/Fmsy. The grey box lists species with unknown F/Fmsy and/or B/Bmsy.

The table below shows naming conventions used in the plot.

Species_Abbreviation Common_Name
WA BFT Western Atlantic bluefin
ATL BET Atlantic bigeye
ATL YFT Atlantic yellowfin
NA ALB North Atlantic albacore
NA SKJ Western Atlantic skipjack
NA SWO North Atlantic swordfish
SA SWO South Atlantic swordfish
BUM blue marlin
WHX white marlin (and roundscale spearfish)
WA SAI West Atlantic sailfish
NWA POR Northwest Atlantic porbeagle
NA BSH North Atlantic blue
NA SMA North Atlantic shortfin mako shark
SSB sandbar shark
—— Gulf of Mexico blacktip
ATL SBK Atlantic blacktip
DUS dusky
SPL scalloped hammerhead
ATL SAS Atlantic sharpnose shark - Atlantic stock
—— Atlantic sharpnose shark - Gulf of Mexico stock
ATL SBN Atlantic blacknose shark - Atlantic stock
SFT finetooth
ATL DGS Atlantic smooth dogfish
—– Gulf of Mexico smoothhound complex

25.1.3 Data processing

Code for processing Atlantic HMS Stock status data can be found here.

catalog link https://noaa-edab.github.io/catalog/hms_stock_status.html