[STAR Panel Rec.] Time-varying growth

[chantelwetzel-noaa]

The 2021 STAR panel recommended exploring time-varying growth as a medium priority for the next assessment:

"Explore time-varying growth, as that could potentially be one mechanism for tension between length and age data, particularly among different time periods. Given the high population growth and turnover rates, environmental conditions could lead to significant differences in growth among different environmental regimes."

On approach would be to add additional time-varying parameters to the assessment model, but as noted in the 2025 assessment of chilipepper, the appearance of time-varying growth could potentially be better explained by time-varying selectivity. Additionally, the data may be insufficient to inform time-varying growth, time-varying selectivity, sex-based selectivity, and potential dome-shaped selectivity. One potential approach depending on the available data would be to evaluate the available weight and age data to determine if the weight-at-age appears to be changing over time and may need to be considered in the stock assessment.

[brianlangseth-NOAA]

Per team meeting on 9/30 - assign to @mfeddern