2005 Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 117-123
Historically, management of the southern bluefin tuna had been a great dispute among relevant parties. However, the situation is improving in recent years, mainly due to the introduction of the independent Advisory Panel to the scientific process of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) and its agreement to adopt a management scheme based on the Management Procedure, a set of pre-specified TAC adjustment rules evaluated with thorough simulations. Concepts and the progress of developing Management Procedures under the CCSBT are introduced. Some of the advantages of Management Procedure are: 1) avoids continuous and consistent struggle in selecting appropriate management action by choosing pre-specified rule beforehand, and 2) chooses management plan by examining effectiveness for multiple or even contradictory objectives with clear understanding on trade-off. Limitations in Management Procedures are: 1) underestimates the uncertainty intrinsic to stock assessment model in general, especially on absolute stock level and projections, and 2) only valid within the uncertainty range that is examined.
