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1. Introduction
The original objective of the ICCAT Software Catalogue was not to evaluate the relative merits of a particular stock assessment method, but to provide a check list of whether the software works as intended and was adequately documented. Inclusion of a particular computer program in the ICCAT software catalogue did not guarantee that the software was free of bugs, nor did it imply any sort of endorsement for its use. Inclusion was simply a way of documenting what steps, if any, the programmer had taken to ensure that the program did what it was supposed do.
Action 1.3 of the Strategic Plan is to reinvigorate the Working Group of the Stock Assessment Catalogue and review the protocols for including and updating the software used for stock assessments while maintaining a historic repository of version control.
The first step in this process was to review best practice and then circulate a questionnaire to rapporteurs of stock assessment working groups to summarise software currently used by the SCRS, review current procedures and canvass their views. A questionnaire was also sent to software developers in order to ensure that innovation is encouraged and that catalogue requirement do not become burdensome.
Based on the results of the survey a new protocol for including software in the catalogue is proposed. As a test the latest version of ASPIC has been reviewed using the protocol.
As an example of using a version control system for software development a git repository has also been created for the VPA2Box software.