October 10, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will hold the American Shad Benchmark Stock Assessment Workshop at the Francis Marion Hotel, 387 King Street, Charleston, SC. The stock assessment, which is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2020, will evaluate the health of stocks along the Atlantic coast and inform management of this species. The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data*, when the public will be asked to leave the room.
The Commission welcomes the submission of alternate analyses or assessment models. For alternate models to be considered, the model description, model input, final model estimates, and complete source code must be provided to Jeff Kipp, Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org by October 18, 2019. Any models submitted without complete, editable source code and input files will not be considered.
For more information about the assessment or attending the upcoming workshop (space is limited), please contact Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
* Each state and federal agency is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of its data and deciding who has access to its confidential data. In the case of our stock assessments and peer reviews, all analysts and, if necessary, reviewers, have been granted permission by the appropriate agency to use and view confidential data. When the assessment team needs to show and discuss these data, observers to our stock assessment process are asked to leave the room to preserve confidentiality.