Northeast Region Coordinating Council (NRCC)

Northeast Region Coordinating Council (NRCC) Overview

The Northeast Region Coordinating Council (NRCC) was formed in 2001 and consists of members from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, New England Fishery Management Council, and Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The NRCC’s mission is to “prioritize, communicate, and coordinate fisheries scientific and management resources through in-person meetings that include Federal, State, Council, and Commission managers and scientists of the Greater Atlantic region of the United States.”

New Stock Assessment Process

A new and more collaborative fishery stock assessment process has been developed by the NRCC. Assessments are now scheduled years in advance to allow for better planning. The process involves two types of assessments – management track and research track.

Management Track Assessments

Management track assessments provide routine, scheduled, and updated advice to directly inform management actions. These assessments are designed to be:

• Simple, quick, efficient, and flexible: and
• Able to incorporate new information on a regular cycle.

Management track assessments ensure that stock status is updated on a regular and predictable basis.

Research Track Assessments

Research track assessments are complex scientific efforts that are designed to be carried out over several years. They can:

• Focus on research topics or on one or more individual stocks:
• Evaluate an issue or new model that could apply to many stocks: and/or
• Consider extensive changes in data, model, or stock structure.