2009 Stock Assesments help?

[dales529]

Spent a good portion of the day trying to educate myself and grasp what these press releases really mean to the average angler. I am sure I am missing something but any help is appreciated.

What I came up with is a basic understanding of the Acronyms (Fishing Mortality Rates, SSB, SSB targets, SSB Thresholds, FMAX, FMSY, Discards and a limited understanding of their formulas (should have paid more attention in "flawed science / data building class").
What confuses me are the assesment reports text that continually state comments such as:
50% probalilty
NOT reliable
Not Overfished or Overfishing BUT....... could be.
No stock model available so we used (EG: Halibut vs Summer Flounder as they are similar "flatfish")
A Pattern of underestimation of abundance and overestimation of SSB but NOT reliable.
Results not favorable from VTR so assumed under reporting from recreational Charter / Party Boats
There are many more if you read this stuff.

My business is a design / engineering Consulting firm and as an example we do a lot of work for Colgate Palmolive: If I was quoting a project on their Deoderant Line and stated that I didnt have the "proper model" so I was going to base their project on lets say their dishwashing liquid and then added only a 50% probablity factor to my design do you think I would get the project?
I can only imagine after the laughter and then SEE YA comments what my reputation would be.

By no means have I been thorough enough here but it seems to me that by written statement they admit that the data is UNRELIABLE. I get the "BEST Science Available" mantra but it appears obvious this IS a flawed system and MUST be changed.

Capt Tony/ Adam/ or anyone else can you help simplify, explain what I am missing, what I should be getting out of these reports and help me understand why I want to read this stuff and how better can I relate it to helping the cause.