Data Weighting Workshop

The Center for the Advancement of Population Assessment Methodology (CAPAM) hosted a technical workshop on Data conflict and weighting, likelihood functions, and process error in La Jolla, CA, USA, October 19-23, 2015. See a story with a focus for a general audience about the Workshop here.
 
The data weighting workshop was the third in a series organized by CAPAM as part of its Good Practices in Stock Assessment Modeling Program for improving fishery stock assessments. CAPAM is a collaborative effort between the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) for purposes of conducting both research and education activities to address modern stock assessment modeling issues. The workshop was sponsored by NOAA, CAPAM, and International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF).
 
The primary goal of the workshop was to provide advice and guidance on practices for using data in fishery assessments. The 5-day meeting included an applied modeling session, keynote and research presentations, and focused discussions. Major topics (and invited speakers) included:
  • Data conflict and weighting – Chris Francis
  • Likelihood functions – Jim Thorson 
  • Temporal variation – Anders Nielsen
  • Model misspecification – Kevin Piner 
  • Wildlife population assessment methods – Panagiotis (Takis) Besbeas
  • Data conflict and weighting in stock assessments using the Stock Synthesis modeling framework (Ian Taylor, Allan Hicks) and related simulation methods/software (Cole Monnahan). A halfday session held on Monday (October 19th) afternoon.
Scientists presented work from both ongoing research efforts and completed studies. A special issue in the journal Fisheries Research is planned for papers developed from is available here. For general information concerning the overall workshop, please contact CAPAM staff (SWFSC.CAPAM@noaa.gov), and also visit the CAPAM website (www.CAPAMresearch.org). 
 
Location: NOAA/NMFS, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA