2019 Assessment of the Flathead Sole-Bering Flounder Stock in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands

"Flathead sole" as currently managed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) represents a two-species complex consisting of true flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon) and its morphologically-similar congener Bering flounder (H. robustus). In 2012, the BSAI Groundfish Plan Team moved flathead sole to a biennial stock assessment schedule because it has been lightly exploited for a substantial period of time (BSAI Plan Team, 2012) and a full stock assessment report was produced in 2018. This year, a partial assessment is presented. In partial assessment years, an executive summary is presented to recommend harvest levels for the next two years, along with trends in catch and biomass. The single species projection model is run using parameter values from the accepted 2018 assessment model, together with updated catch information for 2018 and 2019, to predict stock status for flathead sole in 2020 and 2021 and to make ABC recommendations for those years. Please refer to the 2018 Assessment of the Flathead Sole-Bering Flounder Stock in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (PDF, 176 pages) for further information regarding the stock assessment model (McGilliard et al. 2018). A full stock assessment document with updated assessment and projection model results will be presented in next year’s SAFE report.