Report on the development of Harvest Strategies for key target species in the SIOFA area (Project code SE2020-01)

The Terms of Reference for this contract ask for evaluations of use of harvest strategies, and target and limit reference points, by other fishery organisations, and then for recommendations for adoption of similar approaches by SIOFA. Those practices in a number of such organisations are summarised, as are the assessments available for the three major species under harvest in the SIOFA area: alfonsino, orange roughy and Patagonian toothfish. However, for the other main species of commercial interest in this area, because only limited information is currently available, assessments (and hence reference points, and harvest strategies based on those) are not yet possible; hence, a process to move towards developing and then improving these assessments needs to be agreed. This process must include further data collection in particular, especially of catch and effort information.