REFERENCE POINTS FOR OPTIMAL FISH STOCK MANAGEMENT - A LESSON TO BE LEARNED FROM THE NORTHEAST ARCTIC COD STOCK

In the North Atlantic the Icelandic, the North Sea, and the Newfoundla nd cod stocks are currently overexploited. Overexploitation also chara cterised the Northeast Arctic cod stock, but effective management meas ures introduced in 1990 and the years thereafter have brought this sto ck within safe biological limits. The Northeast Arctic cod stock is tr ansboundary and shared between Norway and Russia, As guidelines for a sound management strategy of this cod stock in the future, reference p oints for management are discussed. As a point of departure, a managem ent strategy which fulfils the objectives for fishery policy stated by Norway is analysed. These objectives, focusing on sustainable harvest ing, increased profitability and the role of the fishery as employer o f labour in rural districts are fundamental in most of the world's fis hery nations. The ''optimal'' strategy is defined as the one which ful fils these in the best way possible. The natural variations are discus sed and the biological and economic yield's dependence upon the rate o f exploitation are analysed. The analysis shows that the size of the s pawning stock should be no less than 500 000 tonnes and that highest y ield is obtained through a rate of exploitation of around 17-30% (equi valent to a fishing mortality of about 0.20-0.40). A spawning stock si ze of 500 000 tonnes should therefore serve as a ''limit reference poi nt'' and a fishing mortality of about 0.20-0.40 should serve as a ''ta rget reference point'' in the management of Northeast Arctic cod. The method described may be applied to other demersal stocks to help estab lish target and limit reference points in order to conduct a sound man agement. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd