Assessment of the arrowtooth flounder stock in the Gulf of Alaska

The Gulf of Alaska (GOA) arrowtooth flounder (ATF, Atheresthes stomias) stock is managed in Tier 3a and is assessed on a biennial basis to coincide with the GOA groundfish trawl survey. These surveys occur in odd years, and for these years a full assessment of arrowtooth flounder in the GOA area is conducted. On even years, parameter values from the previous year’s assessment model (Spies et al. 2017; http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/REFM/Stocks/assessments.htm) and total catch information for the current and previous year are used to make projections and to recommend ABC and OFL for the following two years. A single species projection model was used to predict the status of the GOA ATF stock for 2019 and 2020 and to calculate ABC for those years. The projection model incorporated parameter values from the 2017 assessment model (Spies et al. 2017) as well as catch information from 2017 and 2018 (partial through October 8, 2017). 2018 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) AKR (Alaska Region) Submitted Public Domain 1862