SEDAR 68 Gulf of Mexico Scamp Final Stock Assessment Report

SEDAR 68 addressed the stock assessments for Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Scamp Grouper. The process consisted of a series of webinars. The Data Workshop was originally scheduled for March 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was cancelled. The Data Process transitioned to webinars, which were held between March and September 2020. The Assessment Process was conducted via webinars December 2020 - May 2021, and the Review Workshop was held virtually August 31 to September 3, 2021.

The first stage of the Data Process was a Stock ID review. This process was conducted via a series of webinars. The primary findings of the Stock ID Workshop were twofold. First, there is no evidence in support of biological substructure of the Scamp population off the Southeastern United States. Second, Scamp are very difficult to distinguish from Yellowmouth Grouper, even for trained biologists, and thus much of the assessment data likely represent both species in unknown proportions. In line with these findings, the Stock ID Workshop recommended that two stock assessments be conducted, separated by the default boundary between the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic waters, as defined by the Council's jurisdictions. Further, the Stock ID Workshop recommended that each assessment (Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic) be conducted on both Scamp and Yellowmouth Grouper jointly, with the two species treated as a single complex.