“If

you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up someplace else”
-Yogi Berra

Step 3 of AFAM: Select Performance Indicators

and Reference Points


 Road map for this session
•  Presenta:on
–  What are performance indicators and reference
points
–  Background on fish life history informa:on
–  Details and theory of indicators included in
toolkit
•  Ac:vity
–  Using AFAM, select performance indicators and
reference points for your site
1. Determine assessment and
management :er
Performance indicators provide
informa1on about the current
2. Determine fisheries management controls performance of the stock - they
indicate how things are going
3. Select performance indicators, reference points,
and assessment methods

A target reference point is a
4. Select harvest control rules
numerical value that indicates
that the performance of a stock is
at a desirable level
5. Perform assessment methods
A limit reference point is
6. Interpret assessment results numerical value that indicates
that the status of a stock is
7. Adapt fisheries management controls using
unacceptable (e.g. highly
assessment results overfished)

8. Complete Adap:ve Fishery Management Plan
(FMP)
1. Determine assessment and
management :er
•  No single clue is perfect!
2. Determine fisheries management controls

3. Select performance indicators, reference points,
and assessment methods

4. Select harvest control rules

5. Perform assessment methods

6. Interpret assessment results

7. Adapt fisheries management controls using

assessment results

8. Complete Adap:ve Fishery Management Plan

•  Use mulAple clues, from
(FMP) mulAple data sources
1. Determine assessment and Example performance indicators
management :er
and reference points…
2. Determine fisheries management controls
Performance
Reference Point Data Required
Indicator
3. Select performance indicators, reference points, CPUE is stable or Catch repor:ng
and assessment methods CPUE
increasing system
Catch repor:ng
Total Catch Total catch is stable
4. Select harvest control rules system
Average length is
Length composi:on
Average Length greater than length
survey
5. Perform assessment methods at maturity
Fishing mortality is
Length composi:on
Fishing Mortality equal to natural
survey
6. Interpret assessment results mortality

Spawning poten:al
Spawning Poten:al Length composi:on
7. Adapt fisheries management controls using ra:o is greater than
assessment results
Ra:o survey
40%

Ra:o of fish density Underwater visual

8. Complete Adap:ve Fishery Management Plan Density ra:o is 40%
(FMP) inside/outside NTZ survey
1. Determine assessment and
management :er

2. Determine fisheries management controls

Using the AFAM Guidance Document…
3. Select performance indicators, reference points,
and assessment methods

Step 3a – Select Performance Indicators
4. Select harvest control rules


5. Perform assessment methods
Step 3b – Select Reference Points

6. Interpret assessment results

7. Adapt fisheries management controls using

assessment results

8. Complete Adap:ve Fishery Management Plan

(FMP)
1. Determine assessment and
management :er Step 3a – Select Performance Indicators

2. Determine fisheries management controls •  Indicators will depend on data
availability, target species,
3. Select performance indicators, reference points,
and assessment methods
assessment and management 1er

4. Select harvest control rules

•  When possible, select mul1ple
indicators from independent data
5. Perform assessment methods
streams – but generally don’t use
more than 3!
6. Interpret assessment results
•  Indicators all associated with pros,
7. Adapt fisheries management controls using
cons, caveats – none perfect
assessment results

See
8. Complete Adap:ve Fishery Management Plan
(FMP) detailed assessment method
descrip?ons
1. Determine assessment and
management :er
Step 3b – Select Reference Points

2. Determine fisheries management controls
•  For each performance indicator, set
3. Select performance indicators, reference points,
a target reference point (TRP) and
and assessment methods
limit reference point (LRP)
4. Select harvest control rules
•  Reference points can be based on
literature, trends, or historical data
5. Perform assessment methods

•  Local knowledge, along with

6. Interpret assessment results biological knowledge, should be
used when seOng reference points
7. Adapt fisheries management controls using
assessment results
See
8. Complete Adap:ve Fishery Management Plan
(FMP)
detailed assessment method
descrip?ons
Select performance indicators and reference points
•  Dashboard has system for selec:ng
performance indicators and reference points
•  Pre-populates standard reference points
•  Only shows appropriate indicators as op:ons
 Methods included in AFAM
•  Length data
•  Fishing mortality from Mean length (LBAR)
•  Fishing mortality from Catch curve
•  Spawning poten:al ra:o
•  Froese sustainability indicators
•  Catch and effort data
•  Trends in catch
•  Trends in CPUE
•  Underwater visual survey data
•  Fished:unfished biomass ra:o (coral reef ecosystem indicator)
•  Fished:unfished density ra:o (starget species indicator)
 Common Life History Informa:on for
Data-Limited Fisheries Assessment

•  Age-length conversion parameters (using von

Bertalannfy growth equa:on)

•  Length-weight conversion parameters

•  Maturity

•  Mortality
h`ps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuna
 Measuring fish

Length parameters should be given in terms of one of

these types of measurement
h`p://fishe.edf.org/catch-share-basics/glossary
 Age-length conversion parameters
(using von Bertalannfy growth equa:on)


Lt = Linfinity [1 – exp(-K * (t – t0))]
Lt : Length at age t
Linfinity: Theore:cal asympto:c length of infinitely old fish
K: Growth rate
t0: Theore:cal age of zero-length fish

h`p://www.fao.org/docrep/w5449e/w5449e05.htm
Length-weight conversion parameters

h`ps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_weight_in_fish
 Maturity
m50: Length (or age) when 50% of fish are mature
m95: Length (or age) when 95% of fish are mature

Typically given m50 in the literature

If m95 not available, can use rela:onship m95 = 1.14*m50
If m50 not available, can also be es:mated from LinfiniAy
 Mortality
𝑍=𝐹+𝑀

Z: Total mortality
F: Fishing mortality (from harvest)
M: Natural mortality (from everything else)

M can come from literature, but there are
relaAonships that can be used if it can’t be
found (relaAng it to m50 or K) –
Here is a nice online tool
Where to find life history informaAon?
Species Life History “Database”
-  Database of > 160 species
-  All biological informa:on
required for AFAM toolkit
-  Automa:cally populates when
using Dashboard
Where to find life history informaAon?

If it’s not in our database, check out…

-  h`p://www.fishbase.org/
-  Scien:fic literature
-  Google
-  Google scholar - h`ps://scholar.google.com
-  Tool for es:ma:ng natural mortality

Fishing Mortality from Average Length
(LBAR)
•  Inputs
–  Length-frequency data
(individual length measurements)
–  Life history informa:on (Linfinity,
natural mortality M, and von
Bertalanffy growth parameter k)
•  Outputs
–  Es:mate of fishing mortality F
–  Ra:o of fishing mortality to
natural mortality F/M
 Fishing Mortality from Average Length
(LBAR)

As fishing pressure
increases, larger fish
disappear and
average length
decreases

Ault et al, 2005

Fishing Mortality from Average Length
(LBAR)

Z = K * (Linfinity – LBAR) / (LBAR – LC) Z: Total mortality

F: Fishing mortality
M: Natural mortality (life history
𝐹=𝑍 −𝑀 informa:on)
Fishing Mortality from Average Length
(LBAR)

Linfinity

Linfinity – Asympto:c length of infinitely old fish

Z = K * (Linfinity – LBAR) / (LBAR – LC) (life history informa:on

𝐹=𝑍 −𝑀
Fishing Mortality from Average Length
(LBAR)

Lc

Z = K * (Linfinity – LBAR) / (LBAR – LC) Lc –Length at full selec:vity (mode of the

histogram)
𝐹=𝑍 −𝑀
Fishing Mortality from Average Length
(LBAR)

LBAR

Z = K * (Linfinity – LBAR) / (LBAR – LC) LBAR – Weighted mean length between Lc and
Linfinity
𝐹=𝑍 −𝑀
Fishing Mortality from Average Length
(LBAR)
•  What it tells us:
–  Es:mates fishing mortality (F)
–  This is used to calculate the ra:o F/M
•  How this informa:on informs management:
1.  Stakeholders set target reference point F/M
•  Rule of thumb is F/M = 1
2.  Compare target F/M with F/M from assessment
3.  Adjust fisheries management controls based on
how far apart they are
Fishing Mortality from Catch Curve
•  Inputs
–  Length-frequency data
(individual length
measurements)
–  Life history informa:on
(Linfinity, natural mortality M,
and von Bertalanffy growth
parameters k and t0)
•  Outputs
–  Es:mate of fishing mortality F
–  Ra:o of fishing mortality to
natural mortality F/M
Fishing Mortality from Catch Curve

Length Frequency Histogram

60

50

40
Number of Fish

30

20

10

0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58
Length Bins
Fishing Mortality from Catch Curve
Convert to age frequency histogram

Age Frequency Histogram

90

80

70

60
Number of Fish

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Age
Fishing Mortality from Catch Curve
•  Take right hand side of histogram
•  Log transform data points (math trick!)

5
4.5
4
ln(Number of Fish)

3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Age
Fishing Mortality from Catch Curve
•  Fit linear line to points
•  Nega?ve of slope is total mortality!

Catch Curve
5
4.5 Total mortality
4
y = -0.7323x + 5.6276 Z = 0.7323
ln(Number of Fish)

3.5
3

2.5 Fishing mortality
2 F = Z - M
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Age
Fishing Mortality from Catch Curve
•  What it tells us:
–  Es:mates fishing mortality (F)
–  This is used to calculate the ra:o F/M
•  How this informa:on informs management:
1.  Stakeholders set target reference point F/M
•  Rule of thumb is F/M = 1
2.  Compare target F/M with F/M from assessment
3.  Adjust fisheries management controls based on
how far apart they are
 Spawning Poten:al Ra:o (SPR)
•  Inputs
–  Length-frequency data (individual length
measurements)
–  Life history informa:on (Linfinity, natural mortality
M, and von Bertalanffy growth parameter k,
length to weight parameters wa and wb, length
and maturity parameters m50 and m95)
•  Outputs
–  Es:mate of spawning poten:al ra:o (SPR)
Spawning Poten:al Ra:o (SPR)
SPR: A measure of
Theore:cal Unfished current egg produc:on
Size Frequency rela:ve to theore:cal
(modeled using LHI) unfished level

SPR = area of red curve

____________________

area of grey curve

Observed Size
Frequency

Length (cm)
The Concept:
> 2 children per
couple
Popula1on
Growth

2 children per couple Popula1on Stable

Replacement Level

Popula1on
< 2 children per Decline
couple
Same applies to fisheries Popula1on
Growth

Popula1on Stable

Replacement Level

Popula1on
Decline
 Spawning Poten:al Ra:o (SPR)
•  What it tells us:
–  Es:mates Spawning Poten:al Ra:o (SPR)
•  How this informa:on informs management:
1.  Stakeholders set target reference point SPR
•  Rule of thumb is SPR = 0.4
2.  Compare target SPR with SPR from assessment
3.  Adjust fisheries management controls based on
how far apart they are
 Froese Sustainability Indicators
•  Inputs
–  Length-frequency data (individual length measurements)
–  Life history informa:on (Linfinity, natural mortality M, and
von Bertalanffy growth parameter k, length to weight
parameters wa and wb, length and maturity parameters
m50 and m95)
•  Outputs
–  Percentage of mature fish in the catch
–  Percentage of fish caught within ±10% of op:mum length
(length and maximum possible yield)
–  Percentage of mega-spawners in catch
–  Determina:on if spawning biomass is above sustainable
reference point
 Froese Sustainability Indicators
The Concept

1.  Let them spawn

–  Indicator: Percentage of mature fish in the catch
–  Typical target Reference Point: >90%

2.  Let them grow

–  Indicator: Percentage of fish caught within ±10%
of op:mum length (length at maximum possible
yield)
–  Typical target Reference Point: 100%

3.  Let the mega-spawners live

–  Indicator: Percentage of mega-spawners in catch
–  Typical target Reference Point: <10%
Froese Sustainability Indicators
Based on this informa?on, a decision tree
determines if spawning biomass is sustainable

Cope and Punt 2009

 Froese Sustainability Indicators
•  What it tells us:
–  Percentage of mature fish in the catch
–  Percentage of fish caught within ±10% of op:mum
length (length and maximum possible yield)
–  Percentage of mega-spawners in catch
–  Whether or not spawning biomass sustainable
•  How this informa:on informs management:
1.  Adjust fisheries management controls based on
whether or not spawning biomass is sustainable, or
if too many immature fish in catch
 Trends in Catch
•  Inputs
–  Time series of catch data
•  Outputs
–  Trend in catch (up, down, or stable)
 Trends in catch
•  What it tells us:
–  Whether catch is increasing, decreasing, or stable
•  How this informa:on informs management:
1.  Adjust fisheries management controls based on
this informa:on
 Trends in CPUE
•  Inputs
–  Time series of CPUE data
•  Outputs
–  Trend in CPUE (up, down, or stable)
 Trends in CPUE
•  What it tells us:
–  Whether CPUE is increasing, decreasing, or stable
•  How this informa:on informs management:
1.  Adjust fisheries management controls based on
this informa:on
 Fished:unfished biomass ra:o
•  Inputs
–  Biomass inside and outside the no-take zone (NTZ)
–  Total biomass across all species (ecosystem-level
indicator, i.e., kg/Ha)
•  Outputs
–  Ra:o of fished biomass rela:ve to unfished
biomass

No-Take
Zone
Fished:unfished biomass ra:o
Likelihood of Change in Ecosystem State
< 0.25
ecosystem
state change
< 0.5
ecosystem
recovery
potentially
possible
> 0.5
Monitor, maintain status quo,
address non-fishing threats

Fished:Unfished Biomass Ratio

 Fished:unfished biomass ra:o
•  What it tells us:
–  Fished:unfished biomass ra:o across all species
•  How this informa:on informs management:
1.  Adjust fisheries management controls based on
this informa:on
 Fished:unfished density ra:o
•  Inputs
–  Density inside and outside the no-take zone (NTZ)
–  Density only for target species (i.e., individuals/Ha)
•  Outputs
–  Ra:o of fished density rela:ve to unfished density
of target species

No-Take
Zone
 Fished:unfished density ra:o
•  What it tells us:
–  Fished:unfished density ra:o of target species
•  How this informa:on informs management:
1.  Adjust fisheries management controls of target
species based on this informa:on
 Ac:vity
•  Using AFAM Guidance Document, look
through instruc:ons and references for Step 3

•  Record choices and notes in Your

AFAM Toolkit Worksheet

•  Record choices in
AFAM Toolkit Online Dashboard
Thank you!