Maximum sustainable yield

Maximum sustainable yield is the largest long-term average catch that can be taken from a fish population under specified conditions, without depleting its capacity to replenish.

Logistic growth: A population-growth model in which growth slows as population size approaches a carrying capacity. Its symmetric growth curve puts maximum population growth—and the model's estimated sustainable yield—at half carrying capacity.
Maximum economic yield: The harvest level that maximizes the net economic benefit of a fishery. It usually calls for less fishing effort than maximizing biological catch.
Total allowable catch: A legally established limit on the total amount of a fish stock that may be caught during a period. Managers may set this limit using estimates of sustainable yield and stock condition.
Overfishing: Fishing at a rate that reduces a population or prevents it from maintaining a desired abundance. Treating an uncertain yield estimate as a guaranteed safe catch can allow excessive fishing pressure.
Surplus production model: A population model that estimates sustainable catch from changes in total biomass without tracking age structure. It provides a direct biomass-based route to estimating sustainable yield.
Optimum sustainable yield: A fisheries-management target that balances biological, economic, and social considerations in harvest decisions. It broadens the objective beyond maximizing catch alone.
Maximum sustainable yield biomass: The biomass of a fish stock associated with producing maximum sustainable yield. It is a stock-size benchmark used to judge whether abundance is near the yield target.
Fisheries collapse: A severe decline in a fishery's abundance or catch, often following sustained excessive fishing or environmental change. Yield-focused management can fail when its assumptions or stock estimates are wrong.
Fishing mortality: The rate at which fishing removes individuals from a population. Yield depends on balancing removals against the population's capacity to replace them.
Precautionary principle: A decision principle that favors protective action when serious harm is plausible despite scientific uncertainty. It motivates targets below estimated maximum yield when stock estimates are uncertain.

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