Harvest control rules (HCRs) are the operational component of a harvest strategy, essentially pre-agreed guidelines that determine how much fishing can take place, based on indicators of the targeted stock’s status. HCRs range from basic, constant catch strategies—under which catch levels do not change—to complicated, multistep rules that set allowable catch based on triggers.
Empirical HCRs: Indicators on which fishing opportunities are set come from one or more direct measures of stock status, such as:
Model-based HCRs: Indicators are based on models, such as:
Stock status can be represented graphically by what is known as a Kobe plot. The example below shows a basic HCR. The fishery’s ideal state is green, its cautionary state is yellow, and the state to avoid is red. The HCR has the following specifications:
Ⓒ 2016 The Pew Charitable Trusts
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The GFCM has adopted 2025’s first international #harveststrategy, choosing a precautionary, science-based rule for blackspot seabream in the Alboran Sea. With the stock at only ~5% of unfished levels, this is a key step toward recovery and sustainability:
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November 10, 2025
