1. Stock Assessment Workshop 30th June - 4th July 2008 SPC Headquarters Noumea New Caledonia

2. Day 1 Session 1 Introduction and Overview

3. Welcome and Introductions
The Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP)
The OFP mission: Provide scientific information and advice for managing fisheries exploiting the region's tuna resources.
OFP, SC and WCPFC Relationship
The structure of the OFP is in four sections (30 staff):
Statistics and Monitoring
Tuna Ecology and Biology
Stock Assessment and Modelling
Administration and Finance

4. Welcome and Introductions
Ammenities (see maps in your folders)
Toilets
OFP offices
SPC Shop
Other shops/restaurants
Services (postals etc)
Internet access
Social events – Tonight! Drinks at SPC Social Area from 4.15pm.
Morning and afternoon tea – On the conference centre deck

5. Map of Anse Vata

6. TOILETS
COMPUTER LABORATORY
Map of SPC
TOILETS

7. Workshop Materials Workshop folder containing: a. Timetable/Agenda
b. Notepad
c. Copy of presentations
d. Survey and evaluation forms
2. CD
a. Discussion session files
b. Reference papers
c. Electronic copy of presentations
**You may receive additional papers during the course of the workshop

8. What are we hoping to achieve this week?
(A discussion of workshop objectives)

9. What are we hoping to achieve this week?
OFP-SPC is developing a program of stock assessment learning for fisheries officers from developing Pacific countries and territories which involves four components:
Annual stock assessment workshops
Online learning/revision exercises between workshops*
Opportunistic training during in-country visits
In-meeting support (e.g. scientific support at SC and other meetings)
The ultimate long-term aim of this program is to allow participating officers to be able to pick up a full stock assessment paper, read it, understand it, criticize it if necessary, convey its meaning to their government, and encorporate that understanding in both their domestic and regional fisheries management decision making processes

10. What are we hoping to achieve this week?
With that longterm goal in mind, the program has been structured around delivering understanding regarding 5 key questions:
What are stock assessment models and what are they used for? (PURPOSE)
How does a stock assessment model work? (MECHANICS)
How can we determine if it is a “good” model or assessment? (CRITICAL APPRAISAL)
What is the key information for fisheries management and how do I interpret it? (INTERPRETATION)
What are the potential implications of the assessment for the region and my country? (IMPLICATIONS)
In the first two years of the SAW Program, and in the limited online training undertaken to date, much of the focus has been on questions 1 and 2. In this workshop, we are going to mostly focus on questions 3-5. However, at the end of the week, you will be asked to give a presentation that reflects your understanding of all 5 questions.

11. What are we hoping to achieve this week?

12. What is different about this years workshop approach?
Less focus on how models work, more on critical appraisal and interpretation.
Less computer practicals, more group discussions
More time to prepare you final presentation (~2 days)
Ultimate aim:
Stock assessment papers presented to SC are typically 100 pages long and quite daunting. Yet they are critical to fisheries management in the region. This workshop aims to give you a “recipe” for how to read and interpret these technical assessment papers….where do you look for information in the paper that will indicate if it is a good assessment or not? What are the key management relevant outputs and where do you find them? How do you interpret them? What does it mean for your country and the region more generally?
We hope that the workshop is slightly less intensive/exhausting and the group discussion based nature a little more mentally invigorating!

13. Final Day Presentation
SCENARIO:
You are sitting at your computer at work on a Monday morning when an arrives from non other than the President (or Prime Minister or King/Queen etc) of your country:
“Dear Sir/Madam, I have been informed by my aides that you are our countrys only tuna stock assessment expert. In one weeks time I will be holding high level negotiations with the Heads of State of every nation in or bordering the Pacific Ocean, to determine the future management and allocation of bigeye tuna resources in the Pacific. The negotiations will discuss a recent scientific stock assessment report drafted by SPC. (See attachment A)
Theres just one problem…., I was only elected last week and prior to that I worked in a pizza shop… I know absolutely nothing about stock assessment! Besides not really knowing what stock assessment is, or how they work, I wouldn’t have a clue if the research presented is reliable, nor what information is relevant to our management of bigeye or how to interpret that information with respect to its implications for the future of the resource, for our country and our region, and if theres any sustainability problems, what options we might have to deal with those problems. Further more, it’s a whopper, more that 100 pages long and has way too many numbers and equations and anyway I don’t have time to look at it….so…..

14. Final Day Presentation
SCENARIO (continued):
So, by this Friday I would like you to provide me a 20 minute presentation that contains a comprehensive review of this stock assessment paper and which tells me:
What are stock assessment models and what are they used for?
How does this stock assessment model “work”?
Is it a “good” model and assessment? Can we rely on its outputs?
What is the key information for fisheries management and how do I interpret it?
What are the potential implications of the assessment for the region and our country?

15. Final Day Presentation
SCENARIO (continued):
In addition, the SPC scientists themselves will be at this negotiation. If you have any concerns about the assessment and the methods used, please provide me with a list of questions and I will make sure they are addressed to the scientists at the meeting! We need to keep these stock assessment scientists honest so I expect at least 2 questions from you to ask of them.
I need to go into these negotiations fully briefed and its up to you to make sure I have all the information I need to know….the economic livelihood of this nation hinges on our critical tuna resources and we need to make the right decisions for our future…..so your task is a critical one, I’m counting on you.”
signed: His/Her Excellency
You wipe the cold sweat off your forehead and remember to start breathing again….. “ok” you think, “I am trained to do this, piece of cake”!!

16. Final Day Presentation
Preparation:
During the week we will be holding discussion sessions which will be highly relevant to the information required within your presentation. Furthermore, at the end of those discussion sessions, you will be provided some time to actually put together thoughts and notes on how you will address the associated issue within your presentation.
Hence you will effectively start working on your presentation from tommorow and will have opportunities to work on the presentation throughout the week, as well as having ¾ of the day on Friday to finalise your presentation.
There will be 3 groups (of 4-5 people per group) presenting on Friday and each presentation should go for roughly 20 minutes. Each person in the group must talk to some part of the presentation, but I would suggest you all work together on each section to ensure it is as good as possible.
There will be a stock assessment modeller present of whom you can ask your “critical peer review” questions to.
Presentations will start at 2.30pm on Friday afternoon (4th July), in the Computer Laboratory.