Development and application of management procedures for fisheries in southern Africa

Management procedures (MPs) have been used to regulate two major South African fisheries (the demersal hake fishery and the pelagic fishery for sardine and anchovy) since the early 1990s and are currently undergoing revision, while new MPs have recently been adopted for the South African west coast rock lobster fishery and Namibian hake and seal fisheries. The development and revision of these MPs are summarized in this paper, in particular with regard to their robustness to key uncertainties. The most notable common advantage of the use of an MP approach in these five fisheries has been to render the process of providing scientific total allowable catch recommendations more transparent, thus enhancing credibility between fishery scientists and members of industry.