Home - Stock Synthesis

About Stock Synthesis

Stock Synthesis (SS3) is an age-structured population dynamics model that is used to assess the impact of fisheries on fish and shellfish stocks while taking into account the influence of environmental factors.

How to find Stock Synthesis resources

All resources are publicly available; no registration is required.

1. The ss3-website and ss3-forum for the most up-to-date information and discussions.
2. The Stock Synthesis release and fix executables. Archived executables are also available for download. To learn more about how version numbers are assigned to SS3, please see the SS3 versioning description.
3. Latest version of SSI (i.e., Stock Synthesis Interface or the Stock Synthesis GUI). SSI is a useful tool for modifying Stock Synthesis input files and running SS3 models. SSI will no longer be maintained for versions after v.3.30.21.
4. SS3 User Examples
5. Documentation: Stock Synthesis user manuals (pdf) . Also available is an html version of the manual. Older versions of the manual are available on VLAB.
6. The Getting Started and Developing Your First SS3 Model guides.
7. The helper Spreadsheets are now deprecated. Please reference the user manual or the SS3 helper shiny app instead.
8. Training: This folder contains materials from past workshops or courses.
9. The 3.30 change log
10. Release Notes on VLAB (available as forum posts) and on GitHub (as a PDF with executable releases starting with 3.30.19) are distributed upon each release of SS3, highlighting development since the last release.
11. The Stock Synthesis source code
12. Stock Synthesis related R packages

How do I get help?

• Have questions? Start by looking at answers in the ss3-forum and on the Stock Synthesis GitHub repository in issues or discussions. You can also look in the Frequently Asked Questions section. Otherwise, post in the ss3-forum (preferred) or send an email to nmfs.stock.synthesis@noaa.gov.
• Want to report a bug or request a new feature? Post in the ss3-forum or open an issue in the Stock Synthesis GitHub repository. For bugs and feature requests for the SS3 user manual please see the ss3-doc GitHub repository.

How can I follow Stock Synthesis development?

Preferred methods:

You can follow the ss3-forum which is a Google Group for SS3 users. Those with GitHub accounts can also follow the Stock Synthesis GitHub repository.

Additional method:

Those who are affiliated with a government agency, university, or organization involved with assessment work and are active users of SS3 can become registered members of the SS3 VLAB Community. Please send a request to nmfs.stock.synthesis@noaa.gov including your organizational affiliation and a general description of how you have used or plan to use SS3 in your work. The main advantages of registering are 1) notifications upon new releases of SS3 and 2) ability to subscribe and post to the Forums. Registration is not required to download and use SS3.

How do I cite Stock Synthesis?

Please cite Stock Synthesis itself as:

Methot, R.D. and Wetzel, C.R. (2013). Stock Synthesis: A biological and statistical framework for fish stock assessment and fishery management. Fisheries Research, 142: 86-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2012.10.012

Please cite the Stock Synthesis Manual as:

Methot, R. D., Jr., C. R. Wetzel, I. G. Taylor, and K. Doering. 2020. Stock Synthesis User Manual Version 3.30.15. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Processed Report NMFS-NWFSC-PR-2020-05. https://doi.org/10.25923/5wpn-qt71

SS3 Team Members: