Management procedures (MPs) have been used to regulate two major South Afri
can fisheries (the demersal bake fishery and the pelagic fishery for sardin
e 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 ad
vantage of the use of an MP approach in these five fisheries has been to re
nder the process of providing scientific total allowable catch recommendati
ons more transparent, thus enhancing credibility between fishery scientists
and members of industry. (C) 1999 International Council for the Exploratio
n of the Sea.