CITY OF MORE HEAD — Carteret County residents and others interested in striped mullet management have the opportunity to observe a peer review of the striped mullet stock assessment online.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries announced that it will host a webinar workshop Tuesday and Wednesday with scientists to review the proposed North Carolina striped mullet stock assessment. Discussions are scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday and, if necessary, on Wednesday.

The public can listen to the workshop by telephone or listen and view the presentations in real time by registering online. Instructions for attending the webinar are available on the website deq.nc.gov/news/events/Feb2022-striped-mullet-peer-review-workshop.

The workshop is open to allow the public to observe the peer review process, but public comments will not be accepted. Additionally, at any time during the workshop, the division may close the discussion to the public to allow the peer reviewers to deliberate and complete a draft version of their peer review report, or for the stock assessment work takes care of outstanding tasks.

According to the DMF in its announcement, a stock assessment is a scientific analysis that uses information gathered from commercial and recreational fisheries, data from scientific sampling and observation, and fish biology to determine the abundance of fish. a fish population and, where possible, predict future trends. abundance of stocks.

The DMF went on to say that a peer review is an evaluation of scientific work by independent and unbiased experts. A peer review of the fish stock assessment assesses the validity of the data used, the appropriateness of the assessment model used, and the justification of any assumptions used to determine whether the science conducted is adequate for use in fisheries management . The peer review scientists have not been involved or contributed to the development of the stock assessment and have no interest in the outcome.

“Opening the workshop to the public helps improve communication and public understanding of fish stock assessments,” the division said.