Northeast Region Coordinating Council Announces Revisions to Stock Assessment Schedule
As a result of substantial reductions in Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) assessment science staff capacity, the Northeast Region Coordinating Council (NRCC) has worked together to revise and streamline the 2025 stock assessment schedule.
Fewer management track assessments will be conducted than originally planned for 2025. The June Management Track peer review meeting is planned to continue as scheduled with all the originally planned stocks, however, the Atlantic mackerel assessment will be moved to the September Management Track due to a delay in availability of a critical data component (mackerel egg index) for the assessment.
Stock assessments for Acadian redfish, white hake, winter flounder, and yellowtail flounder are planned for the September Management Track, and assessment plans for those assessments will be reviewed at the May 22 Assessment Oversight Panel (AOP) meeting. For other stocks that were previously scheduled for assessment in 2025, the NEFSC will provide updated data indices to inform management advice in lieu of full management track assessments this year. Those stocks are:
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Atlantic wolffish
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Monkfish
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Ocean pout
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The skate complex (barndoor, clearnose, little, rosette, smooth, thorny, winter)
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Windowpane flounder
With respect to research track assessments, the NRCC has agreed to continue work on the longfin inshore squid research track assessment (Spring 2026) to take advantage of the substantial progress already made by the working group. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) will also continue to work on the striped bass (Spring 2027) research track, with consultation from NEFSC.
The NRCC has decided to pause work on the winter flounder (Fall 2026), monkfish (Spring 2027), and projections (Fall 2027) research track working groups. Pausing this work will allow the NRCC to reconsider research track decisions as it works together to plan and adapt the assessment schedule and process for 2026 and beyond.
In addition to these schedule changes, the NRCC will not be holding either the Research Track Steering Committee meeting this spring, nor the Management Track Input session originally scheduled for May 21. We presently lack the needed certainty with the assessment schedule beyond 2025 to proceed with these efforts.
These changes are needed while we conduct longer-term planning. The NRCC will continue to communicate with constituents, partners, and the public as our planning and adaptation efforts continue.
Questions?
Contact: Brian Hooper, NEFSC assessment process lead
Source: Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
