Stock-recruitment relationships and the precautionary approach to management of tropical shrimp fisheries

This paper examines the possibilities and implications of using precautionary management approaches to deal with the uncertainty regarding the stock-recruitment relationships in tropical shrimp fisheries. After a brief review of the stock-recruitment problem and related reference points in these fisheries, and in the precautionary approach in general, ii proposes an empirical approach to the stock-recruitment relationship as a basis for the determination of safe and risky fishing mortality levels. It illustrates a management strategy based on the seasonal escapement of spawning biomass. Finally, it offers a discussion on the robustness of the empirical approach and on its validation using additional information.