William Tweit, Interim Chair
David Witherell, Executive Director
SUBJECT: title
BSAI crab specifications for 4 stocks - Final specifications, Plan Team report
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STAFF CONTACT: Diana Stram
ACTION REQUIRED: recommended action
• Review and approve 2018 BSAI Crab SAFE Report
• Review Crab Plan Team Report
• Final specifications for 4 stocks
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BACKGROUND:
The Crab Plan Team (CPT) met from September 10-13, 2018 in Seattle, WA to review the final stock assessments as well as additional related issues, in order to provide the recommendations and status determinations contained in the BSAI Crab Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) report (attached). The CPT report from the meeting is also attached.
The CPT reviews assessments on a staggered time frame in order to accommodate specific fishery and data availability needs for determining overfishing level (OFL) and annual catch limit (ACL) requirements. This final 2018 Crab SAFE report contains all recommendations for the ten BSAI crab stocks, including those for which OFL and ABC were previously determined in February and June 2018, as well as stocks for which assessments and specifications are reviewed and determined on a biennial and triennial schedule. For these latter stocks, the most recent (2017) assessment reports and specifications are included in the SAFE report.
The four stocks for which final specifications must be determined at this meeting are:
• Bristol Bay Red King Crab
• EBS Snow Crab
• EBS Tanner Crab
• St. Matthew Blue King Crab
Overall, the Team recommends four stocks be placed in Tier 3 (EBS snow crab, Bristol Bay red king crab, EBS Tanner crab and Aleutian Island golden king crab), four stocks in Tier 4 (St. Matthew blue king crab, Pribilof Islands blue king crab, Pribilof Islands red king crab, and Norton Sound red king crab) and two stocks in Tier 5 (Pribilof Islands golden king crab, and Adak red king crab). The Team continues to recommend an ABC less than the maximum permissible ABC for all stocks for 2018/19. Stock status in relation to status determination criteria are evaluated in the BSAI Crab SAFE report. EBS Tanner crab and Aleutian Islands golden king crab are estimated to be above BMSY for 2018/19, while EBS snow crab, Bristol Bay red king crab, Pribilof Island red king crab and Norton Sound red king crab are estimated to be below BMSY. Saint Matthew blue king crab is estimated to be below MSST while the Pribilof Islands blue king crab stock remains overfished and estimated to be well below its MSST.