Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries

Commission

Benchmark Stock Assessment Tracker

Stock assessments inform our fisheries management process by estimating fish populations and fishing impacts to ensure sustainability. Our assessment process includes two types of assessments – benchmarks and updates. This page focuses on the former – benchmark assessments – and is intended to be a resource for stakeholders to track benchmark assessment development and where we are in the assessment process.

Benchmark stock assessment development generally includes three types of workshops and a peer review. In some cases, there may be multiple workshops or working meetings within each of the workshop categories or stages. The workshops are open to the public and are guided by defining clear goals, products, and individual responsibilities for the participants involved. Participants include Commission staff, state and federal biologists, and stock assessment scientists that make up the Commissions’ species technical committees and stock assessment subcommittees.

For species that are jointly or cooperatively managed with one of the Regional Fishery Management Councils (i.e., summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, bluefish, winter flounder, Atlantic herring, and Spanish mackerel) or NOAA Fisheries (i.e., coastal sharks), our federal partners take the lead in assessing the status of those stocks. These assessments are conducted either through NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) (for northern and Mid-Atlantic species), SouthEast Data Assessment and Review (SEDAR) (for southern species) and NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center (for coastal sharks). The Commission often works with the NEFSC or SEDAR for the peer review portion of our process.

See Current Stock Status
See Stock Assessment Schedule

Benchmark Stock Assessment Process

1

Data Workshop

Participants review all available data sources and identify datasets to be incorporated in the stock assessment. Sometimes this workshop can extend over several meetings.

2

Methods Workshop

After a decision has been made about which datasets will be included, participants conduct a methods assessment workshop to examine all available models and determine which models best suit the assessment. In some cases, the Commission will issue a press release welcoming the submission of alternative models to be conserved for use in the assessment.

3

Assessment Workshop

Following the determination of which models will be used in the assessment, a final assessment workshop focuses on performing the actual assessment. A terms of reference (aka TORs), previously approved by the board, defines the tasks needed to be addressed by the assessment. This workshop usually occurs over several days. The Commission routinely issues press releases well in advance of the assessment workshop and peer review.

4

Peer Review

The assessment, including the data and methods used, is reviewed by an external panel of independent fisheries science experts to provide a judgement on the value and appropriateness of the stock assessment for use in management, as well as recommendations for future research and assessment improvements. The peer review does not provide specific management recommendations.

The panel is also guided by TORs (these may sometimes differ from those of the assessment) to conduct the review of the assessment.

5

Consideration by Management Board

The findings of assessment and peer review are presented to the Management Board. If the peer review panel endorses and the Management Board accepts the stock assessment for management use, the results can then be used to make adjustments to management measures based on the stock status determined by the assessment.

Benchmark Stock Assessment Process

Ongoing Benchmark Stock Assessments

A benchmark stock assessment is a full analysis and review of the stock condition, focusing on the consideration of new data sources and newer or improved assessment models. This type of assessment is generally conducted every three to five years and undergoes a formal peer-review process by a panel of independent, fisheries scientists that have expertise in that specific fish species or in the models that are used in the assessment. These are lengthier assessments that are prompted by potential new fisheries management actions, a major change in the models or datasets, or when a set number of years have passed since the last assessment.

American Lobster
Atlantic Croaker

At the Commission’s 2023 Winter Meeting, the Sciaenids Management Board approved the terms of references (TOR) and initiated the development of an Atlantic Croaker Benchmark Stock Assessment. The goal of the assessment is to evaluate the health of stock along the Atlantic coast and inform management of these species. Following this approval, the Commissions’ species technical committees, stock assessment subcommittees, and Commission staff began work on the benchmark assessment.

The Atlantic Croaker Benchmark Stock Assessment Peer Review is scheduled for July 27-31, 2026 in Arlington, VA

Meetings

Data Workshop – May, 2023

  • Press Release: ASMFC Begins Preparations for Spot, Atlantic Croaker, and Red Drum Benchmark Stock Assessments
  • Meeting Location: Hybrid meeting accessible online and in-person at the Commission’s office in Arlington, Virginia.
  • How to Participate: The workshop is open to the public, with attendees being able to join online or in-person, with the exception of discussions of confidential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room.
  • Purpose & Outcome:
    • The Commission welcomes the submission of data sources that will contribute to the goals of the assessments. This includes, but is not limited to, data on growth, maturation, migration, tagging, natural mortality, environmental impacts, abundance/biomass, and fishery removals. An essential need is data to inform the stock assessments of discards, including size information, and bycatch in other directed fisheries.
    • The Stock Assessment Subcommittee (SAS) selected which data sources would be used in the stock assessment.

Methods Workshop

  • A Methods Workshop was not needed for the Atlantic Croaker Benchmark Stock Assessment.

Assessment Workshop – March, 2026

  • Press Release:
  • Meeting Location: Hybrid meeting accessible online and in-person at the Commission’s office in Arlington, Virginia. The meeting is open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room.
  • Purpose & Outcome:
    • This workshop will focus on evaluation of models and analyses developed to estimate stock status.
    • The assessment is performed.

Peer Review – July, 2026

  • Press Release: …
  • Meeting Location: The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will hold the Atlantic Croaker Benchmark Stock Assessment Peer Review on July 27-31, 2026 at the Commission’s office in Arlington, VA
  • Purpose & Outcome:
    • At the workshop, an independent panel of experts in fisheries science will assess the value and appropriateness of the stock assessment for use in management and provide recommendations for future research and assessment improvements. In its evaluation, the Peer Review Panel will address a terms of reference, which is a list of questions about the quality of the data, the appropriateness of the modeling techniques and assumptions made, conclusions on stock status, as well as how well the assessment addresses other factors such as environmental changes.

Consideration by Management Board – November, 2026

Press Release: …

Meeting Location: The Sciaenids Management Board will consider the new Benchmark Stock Assessment at the Commission’s 2026 Annual Meeting on November 12, 2026 for final approval.

Purpose & Outcome: …

Atlantic Striped Bass
Atlantic Sturgeon
Coastal Sharks
Spot
Tautog
Weakfish
Winter Flounder

Contacts

Stock Assessment Meeting Announcements

See More Meeting Announcements in the Archive

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