Stock assessments require both fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data. Fishery-dependent data is collected from fishing activities and includes recorded landings and portside sampling of catch. Fishery-independent data is collected through surveys conducted in the absence of fishing and can involve various gear types including trawls and acoustic surveys. Both biological data on the stock like age structure and growth rates, and fisheries data like catch and effort are used in stock assessments to evaluate the current status of commercially fished stocks and predict future responses to different fishing pressures.