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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Working Group on Stock Assessment of Demersal Species (WGSAD) benchmark session for the assessment of European hake in geographical subareas (GSAs) 17–18 was held at FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, on 15–18 January 2019. The objective of the meeting was to perform a full analysis and a review of the information and methods used to provide advice on the status of the stock, focusing on the considerations of old and new data sources as well as old and new (or improved) assessment models and assumptions. The session was attended by a total of 25 experts, including experts from the region and experts on the species and/or on stock assessment models discussed, as well as an external reviewer. The session investigated all available input data and carried out an analysis of the performance of two different stock assessment models: a stock synthesis (SS3) model and an assessment for all (a4a) model, both of them tested with different assumptions and/or input data series. Overall, both models provided similar perspectives on the status of the stock, and a final advice was prepared on the basis of the outcomes of an SS3 model. European hake in GSAs 17-18 was considered to be in overexploitation and overexploited, with fishing mortality more than 3 times FMSY and with biomass around 70 percent the precautionary biomass.