SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOURTH REGULAR SESSION 11-22 August 2008 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea CCAMLR PROCESS OF RISK ASSESSMENT TO MINIMISE THE EFFECTS OF LONGLINE FISHING MORTALITY ON SEABIRDS WCPFC-SC4-2008/EB-IP-1

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOURTH REGULAR SESSION 11–22 August 2008 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea A PRELIMINARY STOCK ASSESSMENT OF BIGEYE TUNA IN THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN USING STOCK SYNTHESIS; A COMPARISON WITH MULTIFAN-CL WCPFC-SC4-2008/SA-WP-2

A parallel assessment of the current WCPO bigeye assessment, conducted using MULTIFAN-CL (MFCL), was undertaken using Stock Synthesis (SS) software. The two models incorporated the equivalent data sets (catch, effort, size composition, and tag data) and, where possible, the MFCL assumptions were mimicked in the SS model. Differences in the underlying model structure were noted, where relevant. ...

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOURTH REGULAR SESSION 11-22 August 2008 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea NOTE ON THE STOCK STRUCTURE OF PACIFIC BIGEYE TUNA TO BE USED IN STOCK ASSESSMENTS

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOURTH REGULAR SESSION 11-22 August 2008 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea COMPARISON OF MATURITY AND AGEING OF SWORDFISH FROM HAWAIIAN AND AUSTRALIAN WATERS

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOURTH REGULAR SESSION 11-22 August 2008 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea STANDARDIZED CATCH RATES IN BIOMASS FOR THE SOUTH CENTRAL AND WESTERN PACIFIC SWORDFISH (Xiphias gladius) FROM THE SPANISH LONGLINE FLEET FOR THE PERIOD 2004-2006 WCPFC-SC4-2008/SA-WP-5

Standardized catch rates in weight were obtained using General Linear Modeling (GLM) from sets carried out by the Spanish surface longline fleet targeting swordfish in the South central and South western Pacific areas during the 2004-2006 period. Year, quarter, area, ratio between swordfish and blue shark species and gear were used for modeling. The model tested explained 75% of CPUE variabilit...

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOURTH REGULAR SESSION 11-22 August 2008 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea EFFECTS OF GEAR CHARACTERISTICS ON THE PRESENCE OF BIGEYE TUNA (Thunnus obesus) IN THE CATCHES OF THE PURSE-SEINE FISHERY OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN WCPFC-SC4-2008/FT-IP-1

Effects of gear characteristics on the presence of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) in the catches of the purse-seine fishery of the eastern Pacific Ocean Overfishing of bigeye tuna in the eastern Pacific Ocean has motivated a search for a practical means of reducing the catch of bigeye tuna in mixed species aggregations. To explore the effects of gear characteristics on the catch of bigeye tuna, a...