Evaluation of the International Whaling Commission's revised management procedure for use in groundfish fisheries

Developed for the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to manage a baleen whale fishery, the Revised Management Procedure (RMP) uses catch and abundance estimates to fit a simple population model and produces a target catch consistent with an acceptable probability level. When applied to a long-lived simulated groundfish species with low productivity, the RMP performed well once the no fishing benchmark was adjusted to a value more appropriate for a population with occasional, high recruitment. When compared to a simplified 40-10 strategy, the RMP closed the fishery much less frequently with similar average catches without depleting the population. When the population began at 20% of carrying capacity (K), it allowed rebuilding without closing the fishery. The RMP appears to be robust to changes in survey variability up to a CV of 90%, positive and negative survey bias, infrequent surveys, and changes in carrying capacity.