Scientific and technical support for the Indian Ocean key tuna species management procedure development

This project supports the scientific and technical requirements related to the development and adoption of a management strategy evaluation (MSE) procedure.

MSE is a simulation framework that evaluates the performance of alternative fisheries management approaches against a suite of prespecified management objectives. It is used to design, test, and select management procedures, also known as harvest strategies (decision rules that define how data will be used to inform management decisions). Since 2012, the IOTC has received the mandate to implement an MSE process. Establishing this approach involves a series of activities, and the project is focused on the following elements: developing candidate management procedures and operating models, as well as simulation testing of initial candidate management procedures.

The results of this project will promote the implementation of the precautionary approach through the use of MSE as a way to develop and evaluate management procedures for key tuna species in the IOTC area of competence.