Cod (Gadus morhua) in the Celtic Sea otolith exchange 2016.

1. SUMMARY In this working document, the results of an otolith exchange on Cod (Gadus morhua ) in the Celtic Sea are presented. Each year, stock assessment of c od in the Celtic Sea requires data to be compiled and compared. For example the age distribution from this year's assessment is compared to historical data. In 2016, there has been a small nu mber of one year olds. Consequently, the three main countries (France, Ireland and UK England) which contribute to the cod landings in Celtic Sea organised a small otolith exchange to verify the pr ecision of age data between four readers. Mean precision of age estimate for individual fish had a coefficient of variation (CV) of 0.2% and percent agreement to modal age of 99.5%. There was only one image where two readers identified three growth rings and the other identified four growth r ings.