Beaked redfish (Sebastes mentella) in ICES subareas 5, 12, and 14 (Iceland and Faroe grounds, North of Azores, East of Greenland) and in NAFO subareas 1 and 2 (deep pelagic stock > 500 m)

ICES advises  on  the  basis  of  precautionary  considerations  that  catches  in  2016  of  deep  pelagic  Sebastes  mentellabe significantly  reduced  since  indices  from  the survey  suggest  that  the  stock  has  declined  substantially   prior  to  2005  and  continues  to  decline.  Simulations  show  that only  options  with  catch  below  10000  t  have  a  more  than  50%  probability  of  giving increasing biomass; therefore, only catch options under 10000 t should be considered for 2016.