National Stock Assessment Program
 
The National Stock Assessment Program (NSAP) was first conceptualized in 1995 by Pelagic Section of the Fisheries Resources Research Division of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources through the efforts of Mr. Noel C. Barut, who was then regarded as the “Father of NSAP”.
 
Program Objectives
 
General:
 
The NSAP aims to provide information and establish the status of the country’s fishery resources as a basis in the formulation of policies and management options for the sustainable production of marine resources.
 
Specific:

  1. To determine the catch per unit of effort, relative abundance, seasonality, and species composition of major species by gears;

 

  1. To estimate the population parameters (i.e., growth and mortality, recruitment pattern, probabilities of capture, virtual population analysis, and yield and biomass per recruit) of selected major fish species;

 

  1. To enhance and standardize the National Stock Assessment Program (NSAP) methodology and database;

 

  1. To provide catch baselines that will be used to set reference points or harvest control rules which is a part of the Capture Fisheries strategy to implement science-based conservation and management measures as stated in the CNFIDP 2016-2020;

 

  1. To provide limit reference points such as Exploitation (E) values and Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR) that will serve as guidelines in establishing harvest control rules for various commodity species.

 
Methodology
To read on the methodologies of NSAP, please visit https://nsap.nfrdi.da.gov.ph/about.