The FRDC National Priority 1 targets include two elements relevant to the undefined category. The first is to increase the number of species covered in SAFS to 200 by 2020. The second is to reduce the percentage of species (stocks?) classified as undefined to less than 10% by 2020. Given that a greater proportion of the additional species to be introduced are likely to be data-limited, since major stocks by value are already included in SAFS, meeting these two targets simultaneously by 2020 poses some challenges.
While the longer-term need is to be able to accurately assess the status of more stocks, the shorter-term need is to gain a better understanding of why the 49 stocks classed as undefined in SAFS 2016 could not be assigned a status category. Preliminary examination of the reports for these 49 stocks suggests that there are several different reasons for their undefined classification. There is a need to better understand these reasons, divide them into categories, and assign the current 49 stocks to these categories. There is also a need to provide clearer guidance to SAFS authors about use of the undefined classification.