SCG1

The inaugural meeting of the SCG took place at the East-West Center , Honolulu , from 29-31 July 2002, immediately following the 15th meeting of the Standing Committee on Tuna and Billfish [SCTB15]. The meeting was chaired by the Chairman of WG.II, Dr John Kalish ( Australia ).

The matters considered at SCG 1, and the key outcomes from that meeting, were as follows:

(a) guidelines and format for reporting to the Preparatory Conference on stock status and other scientific and technical issues - the SCG adopted the format and content of summary statements on the status of skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye and South Pacific albacore stocks and other scientific and technical information pertaining to such stocks;

(b) The provision of interim scientific advice to the Preparatory Conference on the status of the four primary tuna stocks in the Convention Area; and

(c) the fisheries and scientific data needs of the Preparatory Conference - t he SCG agreed that the priorities for fisheries data are (1) estimates of annual catches; (2) catch and effort data, preferably on an operational level (e.g. longline sets, purse-seine sets); and (3) size composition data (length or weight).

The report of SCG 1 is here (Report of the Scientific Coordinating Group (SCG) (191.62 KB120.5 KB)). Further information concerning SCTB15, including the full text of the reports tendered to SCTB, is available at the SOEST Hawaii Site and at the SCP site .