The 2005 assessment of Acadian redfish, Sebastes fasciatus storer, in the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank region

The 2005 assessment is based on several sources of information, including: (a) the age composition of USA 1969-1985 commercial landings; (b) Northeast Fisheries Science Center spring and autumn research vessel survey data; and (c) standardized USA commercial fishing effort data. Information on total landings is available since the inception of the fishery in the mid 1930s, and a measure of commercial catch per unit of effort was derived for most of the period when the directed fishery operated (1942-1989). Trends in total biomass and exploitable biomass are illustrated, and additional information on the age structure of the stock is presented, including the age composition of the commercial landings (1969-1985) and an index of the age composition of the stock based on research vessel survey data (1975-2004). Fishery-dependent and fishery-independent information are integrated using an age-structured biomass dynamics model to generate estimates of instantaneous fishing mortality, stock biomass, and recruitment on an annual basis from 1934 through 2004.