Arlington, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has begun work on a red drum benchmark stock assessment. The assessment will evaluate the health of the Atlantic coast red drum population and inform the management of the species. The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public (with the exception of discussion of confidential data).
The Commission welcomes the submission of data sets that will improve the accuracy of the assessment. These include, but are not limited to data on growth, maturation, migration, genetics,
stock enhancement, tagging, recruitment, natural mortality, and abundance/biomass. An essential need is information on the adult component of the stock as well as spawning stock condition. For data sets to be considered, the data must be sent in the required format, with accompanying methods description, to the Commission by August 1, 2014. For those interested in submitting data, including the appropriate format, and/or attending the Red Drum Data Workshop, please contact Jeff Kipp, Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740. The deadline for data submission is August 1, 2014. All available data will be reviewed and vetted by the Commission’s Red Drum Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee for possible use in the assessment.
The Data Workshop will be conducted October 14-17, 2014 in Charleston, SC. A subsequent press release will announce the specific location of the Data Workshop. The Assessment Workshop will be conducted in early 2015, with the peer review being conducted through the SouthEast Data, Assessment and Review process from August 25-27, 2015. For more information on the red drum stock assessment process, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes- murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.