Application of the British Columbia Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) management procedure for the 2025-26 fishing year

Abstract

fimbria) fishing industry collaborate on a Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) process intended to provide a transparent and repeatable harvest strategy. Total allowable catch (TAC) advice is provided annually to DFO Fisheries Management based on the annual application of a Management Procedure (MP) to updated stock index and landings data. The Sablefish MP is a specific, repeatable algorithm for computing a recommended annual catch limit (‘MP catch limit’). MP selection is based on how well an MP meets specified management objectives. Performance of an MP is evaluated during simulation testing of candidate MP options, with metrics that summarize fishery outcomes relative to specified management objectives. Uncertainty and robustness are considered by testing each candidate MP against alternative scenarios for Sablefish stock and fishery dynamics defined by operating models (OMs). MPs that do not meet imperative conservation objectives are rejected from consideration. For MPs that do meet conservation objectives over a range of alternative scenarios, the final selection of an MP is based on examining trade-offs among management outcomes linked to socio-economic objectives. Under the terms of a Collaborative Agreement, DFO Science and the Canadian Sablefish industry work together to collect annual abundance and landings data, and then apply the MP to those data in order to calculate the MP catch limit for the upcoming fishing year. The resulting MP catch limit has been adopted as the TAC in most years (Appendix, Table 1). Deviation from the MP catch limit should be avoided since conclusions about MP acceptability are based on simulations where the MP is applied exactly as specified. However, the MP may be revised when OM scenarios are updated based on new information, or when changes are made to fishery management objectives. The MP is not used to evaluate stock status and serves only as a means of calculating a recommended catch limit based on monitoring data. DFO Fisheries Management has requested that Science Branch evaluate the MP response to updated stock and fishery data and resulting harvest advice. The analyses presented in this document apply the Sablefish MP to data updated to the end of 2024. The resulting MP catch limit will inform the TAC for the 2025-26 fishing year. In addition, this document provides background on the Sablefish MSE process, as well as stock summary information on sustainability elements required by DFO’s Fishery Decision-Making Framework Incorporating the Precautionary Approach (‘PA Policy,’ DFO 2009). The coastwide Sablefish stock in BC has been prescribed under the Fish Stocks provisions (FSP) of the Canadian Fisheries Act (Fisheries Act R.S.C., 1985, c. F-14, as amended by Bill C-68, June 21 2019). Alignment of the Sablefish management system with the FSP and the DFO PA Policy is achieved via the Sablefish MSE process. This Science Response Report results from the regional peer review January 28, 2025 on the Application of the British Columbia Sablefsh (Anoplopoma fmbria) Management Procedure for the 2025-26 Fishing Year.