21st Regular Session of the Scientific Committee

Biological data are crucial for integrated and data-limited stock assessments, but current shark sampling in the Pacific is spatially limited and may not represent the full population structure. The ISC's International Billfish Biological Sampling (IBBS) program for North Pacific billfish (Kinney et al., 2023) addresses this by collecting data for robust biological parameters and assessing spatial variations. This project should replicate that approach for WCPO sharks to improve sample collection and biological understanding, including growth and maturity estimates. 

SC21 will review the project's outcomes and provide recommendations for future data collection.