September 11, 2025 — An online workshop is planned Sept. 22-23 to help turn around reduced sampling of commercial fisheries landings in the Northeast, and its effects on stock assessments, organizers say.
“Reduced sampling of commercial landings in our region has been identified as a significant threat to stock assessment integrity,” according to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. “To help address this threat and optimize federal and state sampling efforts, the Northeast Region Coordinating Council is hosting a virtual State-Federal Commercial Landings Sampling Workshop on September 22–23, 2025.”
Originally formed in 2001, the Northeast council draws members from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, the Mid-Atlantic and New England fishery management councils, and NMFS’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center.
The coordinating council’s stated mission is to “prioritize, communicate, and coordinate fisheries scientific and management resources through in-person meetings that include Federal, State, Council, and Commission managers and scientists of the Greater Atlantic region of the United States.”
Biological sampling – the scientific basis for characterizing the size and age composition of commercial landings – has declined markedly since 2019, according to the Northeast science center.