22nd Regular Session of the Scientific Committee

SC22 will review the stock assessment workflow and identify efficiency improvements, consider options for prioritising its work programme, examine potential adjustments to the SciData submission deadline, and contribute to broader work on meeting timetable adjustments, in response to a tasking by the Commission at WCPFC22. 

The SC Vice Chair was tasked to lead intersessional work in 2026 on prioritizing SC’s work and SC22 will consider options to improve efficiency, prioritisation, and the overall effectiveness of its operations while maintaining the quality, transparency, and independence of scientific advice.

• This agenda item builds on a range of operational and structural challenges identified at SC21 and further considered at WCPFC22, including delays and inconsistencies in data submission, lack of standardisation, and constraints in data availability affecting the timely delivery and review of stock assessments. Timing misalignment across data provision, assessment preparation, and SC meetings, together with increasing workload and capacity constraints on the SSP, has created sustained pressure on WCPFC’s scientific processes and raised concerns about long-term sustainability. 

  SC21 highlighted the need to improve the quality and clarity of scientific outputs, noting that the SC must provide clear, substantive, and actionable advice and recommendations to the Commission. It also emphasised the importance of strengthening collaboration, including through continued application of Open Science principles, while maintaining the independence and integrity of SSP advice. Challenges were also identified in managing the expanding scope of work, including obligations under CMMs and evolving roles of stock assessments under harvest strategies, as well as the lack of a structured prioritisation framework and clear guidance from the Commission. 

  Structural issues in meeting organisation were noted, including limited opportunity for strategic discussion, with support for a default SC meeting duration of 8-days and proposals to extend or establish dedicated Heads of Delegation discussions to address workload and planning issues more effectively.