An updated assessment of the Agulhas sole resource, Austroglossus pectoralis.

Butterworth and Glazer (2014) reported results from the application of a simple form of the dynamic Schaefer model to account for a large drop in sole CPUE over the period 2009-2013. The two hypotheses considered were (i) the drop in CPUE was a consequence of decreasing catchability and (ii) the drop in CPUE was a consequence of decreasing productivity. The model was applied again in 2016 (Butterworth et al., 2016) and 2017 (Glazer et al., 2017). Results from the assessment conducted in 2017 yielded more positive future projections for the most pessimistic scenario (a decrease in productivity, where effort remains at its current reduced level into the future). Recent biomasses were estimated to be higher and projected to decrease more slowly if the 2013 effort level was maintained. Given that data are now available for 2017, the assessment model has once again been updated, with results reported here. These point to yet a more positive resource situation