The ICES Working Group for the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Waters Ecoregion (WGBIE) assesses the status of 23 stocks distributed from ICES Divisions 3.a–4.a though to Subarea 9, mostly
distributed in Subareas 7, 8 and 9. The group was tasked with conducting assessments of stock
status for 23 stocks using analytical, forecast methods or trends indicators to provide catch forecasts and a first draft of the ICES advice for 2019. For two of the Nephrops stocks updates were
provided on catch data with the advice release delayed until October after the completion of the
surveys used for the assessment.
Analytical assessments using age-structured models were conducted for the northern stock of
white anglerfish, the northern and southern stocks of megrim, four-spot megrim and sole in the
Bay of Biscay. The two hake stocks and one southern stock of anglerfish were assessed using
models that allow the use of length-structured data (no age data). A surplus-production model,
without age or length structure, was used to assess the second southern stock of anglerfish and
an age-length structure model was used for the European seabass in the Bay of Biscay. The state
of stocks for which no analytical assessment could be performed was inferred from examination
of catch, commercial LPUE or CPUE data and from survey information, where available.
The northern stock of hake was benchmarked this year to incorporate discards into the model
that were previously omitted. New reference points with the accepted benchmark assessment
were proposed by the group and new proxy biomass reference points where proposed for black
anglerfish in Division’s 7b-k, 8abd.
A recurrent issue significantly constrained the group’s ability to fully address the terms of reference this year. Despite an ICES data call with a deadline of six weeks before the meeting, data
for most stocks were submitted to ICES only two days before the start of the meeting and in one
case 2 days after the meeting commenced. This delayed the process of having the data quality
checked and the assessment completed before the start of the working group. This is an important matter of concerns for the working group members.
The structure of the report is set out with section 1 presenting a summary of each stock, discussing general issues and conclusions. Section 2 provides descriptions of the relevant fishing fleets
and surveys used in the assessment of the stocks. Sections 3–18 contains the single stock assessments
