Owing to the incomplete nature of the data available for the assessment, the Group wishes to draw attention to the recommendations in the “Report of the Third Session of the Working Party on Resource Evaluation” (Rome, February 1976) and also to draw the attention of all countries engaged in the hake fishery to the data specifically needed for improving assessment, i.e.:
1. Catch statistics for all countries, by species and area;2. Effort data for different classes of vessel, by area and depth; on at least quarterly basis;
3. Indices of abundance for different species by class of vessel, area and depth;
4. Length compositions representative of the commercial fishery by class of vessel, area and depth, on a quarterly basis;
5. Growth data by species;
6. Selectivity data, by species and type of fishing gear;
7. Biological data, including observations on fecundity and state of maturity.
