CPUE is a key information source for harvest strategies, either directly (e.g. Tier 4) or combined with other information (e.g. Tiers 1 and 2). This is will continue to be the case into the short and medium term future, at least until a time series of fishery-independent survey estimates become available (more than 5 years). Also, largest declines in “recorded” history are documented using CPUE data from 1980s, and whatever the future holds by way of a fisheries-independent survey, the historical data are likely to be a key part of setting reference points for Harvest Strategies.

The best method to analyse catch and effort data to produce a standardised CPUE series is a topic that has received recent attention (see Consultation). From these discussions it became clear that a statistical method that takes into account targeting within the multi-species SESSF fishery is likely to be a substantial improvement over the current methods. It is expected that the use of extra data sources, notably fisher-derived fine-scale habitat data, market price data and environmental data, will help take account of targeting in the CPUE data.