Staff with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a four-day, in-person workshop Dec. 2-5 with scientists who are peer reviewing a draft assessment of North Carolina estuarine striped bass stocks.

The workshop will be held at the Bridge Pointe Hotel and Marina, 101 Howell Road, New Bern.
The discussions begin at 1 p.m. on Dec. 2 and at 9 a.m. on Dec. 3, 4, and 5. During open sessions, the public may observe the peer review process; however, there will not be a public comment period.

When deemed necessary, the committee will close the meeting to the public to allow the peer reviewers to deliberate and complete a draft version of their peer review report.

A stock assessment is a scientific analysis that uses information gathered from commercial and recreational fishermen and data from on-the-water scientific sampling and observations to determine the health of a fish population and predict how that population may respond to different management measures.

A peer review is an evaluation of scientific work by independent and unbiased experts. A peer review of a fisheries stock assessment evaluates the validity of the data used, the appropriateness of the assessment model used, and the rationale of any assumptions used. The evaluation determines if the science conducted is adequate for use in fisheries management. Peer review scientists have not been involved in or had input into the development of the stock assessment and have no stake in its outcome.

The open, in-person peer review process is meant to foster communication between the peer reviewers and division stock assessment scientists and to improve public understanding of fisheries stock assessments.

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