Assessment of the Cod Stock in NAFO Division 3M

An assessment of the stauts of the cod stock in NAFO Division 3M is performed. The same model used last year, a Bayesian model, is used to perform the assessment. Results indicate another reasonable recruitment value in 2008 and a fairly substantial increase in SSB, reaching a median value above the Blim for the first time since 1995. The six-years retrospective plot shows that the recruitment is over estimated year by year, and that if we assume a prior distribution under the natural mortality the retrospective pattern seems no to converge, so the model running with M constant equal to 2 is presented too. It results are no significantly different as those assuming M with uncertainty. Three year projections indicate that fishing at the low Fbar level currently estimated for 2008 should allow SSB to increase to higher levels than estimated for the late 1980's, although in terms of abundance the stock will remain at lower levels. If the fishing mortality were return to the levels seen until 1995, stock recovery would become very improbable

Report of the NAFO Working Group on Improving Efficiency of NAFO Working Group Process (E-WG) Meeting

The Chair, Fred Kingston (NAFO Secretariat) opened the meeting on Thursday, 18 March 2021 at 10:00 hours. The Chairs and co-Chairs of the NAFO Working Groups were welcome to the virtual meeting (Annex 1)

Estimation of the reference points for the different OMs in the Cod 3M MSE

This paper presents different methods to estimate the reference points (Blim, Bmsy and Fmsy) to be used in the 3M NAFO cod MSE. Reference points should be specific for each of the possible realities, what defines the different possible realities are the different OMs and, within each OM, the different iterations. The methods presented here try to estimate the reference points by iteration for the different OMs since it is assuming that the reference points will be interpreted as a characteristic of the “real” population. The results of some of the methods proposed to estimate the management reference points (limit and target) seem to be not consistent between them. The results show that in this case the proxy used as Fmsy (F30%SpR) seems quite reasonable

Standardized CPUE Indices for Greenland Halibut in NAFO Regulatory Area of Divisions 3LMNO Based on Spanish Commercial Catch Rates

A standardized CPUE series using a log-linear model for Greenland halibut in NAFO Regulatory Area of Divisions 3LMNO, based on catch and effort data from the Spanish trawl fleet since 1992 is presented. Fixed factors considered in the model were year, month, division, depth stratum and vessel and the interactions included were division*month and division*depth stratum. All of these factors and interactions are statistically significant. The total proportion of variance explained by this model is 46%. The results indicate substantial variability of CPUE over time, with several short periods of increasing and decreasing CPUE. After having reached the lowest value of the series in 2004, standardized CPUE has increased very substantially, reaching a value in 2006 very near the maximum of the entire series

Assessment of the Cod Stock in NAFO Division 3M

An assessment of the cod stock in NAFO Division 3M was conducted using a Bayesian SCAA (statistical catch-at-age) model. The STACFIS catch estimates and the Flemish Cap survey indices were used to fit the model. Blim, defined as the SSB of 2007, was estimated at 15 408 t (median). Results indicate a general increase in SSB since 2005 to the highest value in 2017, decreasing sharply since then. SSB has been above Blim since 2008. Between 2013 and 2018 recruitment was at very low levels; the 2016 and 2018 values were among the lowest of the series; as a consequence, 3-year projections indicate that total biomass will decrease during the projected years, while the SSB could increase under some scenarios in the final projected year. Depending on the projected scenario, probability of SSB being below Blim in 2023 and 2024 is high (≥12%) or very low (≤5%). An increase in recruitment occurred in 2019 and 2020, reaching the 2008 level.Versión del editor

Report of the NAFO Joint Commission-Scientific Council Working Group on Risk-Based Management Strategies (WG-RBMS) Meeting

The meeting was opened by the co-Chairs Fernando González-Costas (European Union) and Ray Walsh (Canada) at 08:30 hours (Atlantic Daylight Time in Halifax, Nova Scotia) on Tuesday, 24 August 2021. The co-Chairs welcomed the representatives from Canada, European Union, Japan, Norway, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The Scientific Council (SC) Chair, SC Precautionary Approach Working Group (PA-WG) co-Chairs were also welcomed (Annex 1)

Report of the NAFO Commission Ad hoc Working Group to Reflect on the Rules Governing Bycatches, Discards and Selectivity (WG-BDS) in the NAFO Regulatory Area Meeting

The meeting was opened at 10:05 hours (Atlantic Daylight Time in Halifax, Nova Scotia) on Monday, 12 July 2021 by the Chair, Temur Tairov (Russian Federation). He welcomed representatives from Canada, Denmark (in respect of Faroe Islands and Greenland), European Union, Iceland, Japan, Norway, United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The SC Chair and the STACTIC vice Chair were also in attendance (Annex 1)

Report of the NAFO Joint Commission–Scientific Council Catch Estimation Strategy Advisory Group (CESAG) Meeting

The NAFO Joint Commission-Scientific Council Catch Estimation Strategy Advisory Group (CESAG) met via WebEx on 13 April 2021. The meeting was opened at 9:30 hours (Atlantic Daylight Time) by co-Chairs Katherine Sosebee (USA) and Temur Tairov (Russian Federation). Representatives from NAFO Contracting Parties (Canada, European Union, Japan, Ukraine) were in attendance. The Scientific Council Chair was also in attendance (Annex 1)

Identification and Regulation of Interleukin-17 (IL-17) Family Ligands in the Teleost Fish European Sea Bass

Interleukin-17 (IL-17) cytokine comprises a family of six ligands in mammals with proinflammatory functions, having an important role in autoimmune disorders and against bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens. While IL-17A and IL-17F ligands are mainly produced by Th cells (Th17 cells), the rest of the ligands are expressed by other immune and non-immune cells and have different functions. The identification of IL-17 ligands in fish has revealed the presence of six members, counterparts to mammalian ones, and a teleost-specific form, the fish IL-17N. However, tissue distribution, the regulation of gene expression, and scarce bioactivity assays point to similar functions compared to mammalian ones, though this yet to be investigated and confirmed. Thus, we have identified seven IL-17 ligands in the teleost European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), for the first time, corresponding to IL-17A/F1, IL-17A/F2, IL-17A/F3, IL-17C1, IL-17C2, IL-17D, and IL-17N, according to the predicted protein sequences and phylogenetic analysis. They are constitutively and widely transcribed in sea bass tissues, with some of them being mainly expressed in the thymus, brain or intestine. Upon in vitro stimulation of head-kidney leucocytes, the mRNA levels of all sea bass IL-17 ligands were up-regulated by phytohemagglutinin treatment, a well-known T cell mitogen, suggesting a major expression in T lymphocytes. By contrast, the infection of sea bass juveniles with nodavirus (NNV), a very pathogenic virus for this fish species, resulted in the up-regulation of the transcription of IL-17C1 in the head-kidney and of IL-17C1 and IL-17D in the brain, the target tissue for NNV replication. By contrast, NNV infection led to a down-regulated transcription of IL-17A/F1, IL-17A/F2, IL-17C1, IL-17C2, and IL-17D in the head-kidney and of IL-17A/F1 and IL-17A/F3 in the brain. The data are discussed accordingly with the IL-17 ligand expression and the immune response under the different situations testedVersión del editor2,46