---

A new global study led by IMAS has found that fishery stock assessments frequently overestimate fish population health, especially for overfished stocks—by an average of 11.5%. The findings call for more cautious, independently verified approaches to fisheries management to ensure long-term sustainability and food security.

---

Editor’s summary
Assessment of the status of fisheries stocks is a key component of their management. Although there has been much debate around how to do fishery assessments, there has been a general belief that estimates are roughly accurate. Edgar et al. used publicly available data on 230 of the best-known fisheries species to test whether stock biomass estimates made in the year of the estimate were as accurate as specifically calculated hindcast models (see the Perspective by Froese and Pauly). They found that, especially in overfished species, historical estimates were higher than later estimates, indicating the presence of excessively positive assessments of stock status. —Sacha Vignieri

---

With an ever-increasing hunger for seafood globally, finding low-cost but effective ways of monitoring catches has never been more important to ensure sustainability.

---

Sea Change: co-developing pathways to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate for fisheries and aquaculture in Australia