Why a management procedure approach? Some positives and negatives

Butterworth, Doug S

Why a management procedure approach? Some positives and negatives

Journal Article

2007

Journal Title

ICES Journal of Marine Science

Link to Journal

http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/73/3.toc

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Marine Resource Assessment and Management Group

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Abstract

The origin of the management procedure (MP) approach (sometimes termed management strategy evaluation), with its simulation testing of feedback-control algorithms as a necessary and structured basis for dealing with the inevitable uncertainties associated with fisheries assessments, is briefly reviewed. Also discussed are the advantages that overcome some of the difficulties of the “traditional” approach of coupling an annual “best” assessment to some harvest control rule, such as a failure to consider longer-term trade-offs properly. The MP approach does, however, also have disadvantages, such as the length of time typically required for its development and an argued inflexibility after implementation. Solutions that have been developed to overcome some of these difficulties are discussed.