ICES advisory framework 1977–2012: from Fmax to precautionary approach and beyond

Abstract

Abstract Lassen, H., Kelly, C., and Sissenwine, M. 2014. ICES advisory framework 1977–2012: from Fmax to precautionary approach and beyond. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71: 166–172. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) provides fishery advice in the context of international agreements and addressing the policy and legal needs of ICES Member Countries. This advice is often formulated for an annual total allowable catch based on decisions made by the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) during the first half of the 1970s. Although this early advice was initially focused on the best usage of the growth potential of the fish stocks, the collapse of important pelagic stocks in the late 1960s and the early 1970s suggested that the biological advice should include serious considerations of the spawning–stock biomass (SSB). ICES responded with a new advisory framework in 1976. Over the next 30 years, the advisory framework evolved, with increasing emphasis placed on ensuring SSB to avoid impairing recruitment. The Plan of Implementation of the 2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) calls for the restoration and maintenance of fish stocks to levels than can produce the fisheries that provide maximum sustainable yield (MSY). In 2009, ICES revised its advisory framework now formulated as a harvest control rule aimed at achieving MSY.