ABC | Acceptable Biological Catch, a catch that is less than the OFL to account for scientific uncertainty |
ACL | annual catch limit, typically specified in units of tons |
ACT | annual catch target |
AM | accountability measures |
AOA | Analysis of Alternatives |
ASMFC | Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission |
B | Generic reference to biomass (usually measured in terms of spawning stock biomass, but other units such as egg production may be preferred) |
B0 | The unfished equilibrium biomass |
BMSY | Biomass corresponding to Maximum Sustainable Yield (often determined using a proxy such as 40 percent of B0) |
Bt | Biomass in year t (usually measured in terms of spawning stock biomass, but other units such as egg production may be preferred) |
Bx% | The average biomass corresponding to fishing at a rate of Fx%. |
CFP | Common Fisheries Policy |
CMFC | Caribbean Fishery Management Council |
CPUE | catch per unit effort |
CRA | “Crayfish,” New Zealand management area designation for spiny red rock lobster |
DFO | Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
EBFM | Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management |
EC | European Commission |
EEZ | Exclusive Economic Zone |
EFH | Essential Fish Habitat |
EIS | Environmental Impact Statement |
EU | European Union |
F | Generic reference to fishing mortality |
Fx% | The fishing mortality rate at which spawner biomass-per-recruit is reduced to x% of its unfished level |
FACL | Target fishing mortality |
FMSY | Fishing mortality rate corresponding to Maximum Sustainable Yield |
FREBUILD | Fishing mortality that achieves a 50 percent probability of rebuilding by TTARGET |
FTHREAT | Fishing mortality that drives a component population to threatened or endangered status |
FAO | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |
FCMA | Fishery Conservation and Management Act (See also MFCMA, MSFCMA, MSA and SFA) |
FIS | Fishery Impact Statements |
FMP | Fishery Management Plan |
FSRP | Fish Stock Rebuilding Plan |
FSSI | Fish Stock Sustainability Index, a list of stocks and their status relative to being overfished and subject to overfishing. |
GMFMC | Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council |
HCR | Harvest Control Rule |
HMS | highly migratory species |
IATTC | Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission |
ICES | International Council for the Exploration of the Sea |
ICNAF | International Commission for the North Atlantic Fisheries |
IPHC | International Pacific Halibut Commission |
M | Coefficient of natural mortality |
MAFMC | Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council |
MEY | Maximum Economic Yield |
MFCMA | Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (as amended in 1980) |
MFMT | Maximum Fishing Mortality Threshold (cannot exceed FMSY) |
MSA | Magnuson Stevens Act (See also FCMA, MFCMA, MSFCMA, and SFA) |
MSE | Management Strategy Evaluations |
MSFCMA | Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (as amended in 1996; see also FCMA, MFCMA, and SFA) |
MSST | Minimum Stock Size Threshold, the level of biomass at which a stock is declared to be overfished, often set at 50 percent of the BMSY (or its proxy). |
MSY | Maximum Sustainable Yield |
MT | metric tons |
NAS | National Academy of Sciences |
NEFMC | New England Fishery Management Council |
NEPA | National Environmental Policy Act |
NMFS | National Marine Fisheries Service |
NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
NPFMC | North Pacific Fishery Management Council |
NRC | National Research Council |
NS1G | National Standard 1 Guidelines |
OECD | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
OFL | Overfishing Limit, the biomass of catch corresponding to a catch under a FMSY harvest strategy |
OY | Optimum Yield |
PFMC | Pacific Fishery Management Council |
RFMC | Regional Fishery Management Council |
RIR | Regulatory Impact Review |
SAFE | Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation |
SAFMC | South Atlantic Fishery Management Council |
SDC | Status Determination Criteria |
SFA | Sustainable Fisheries Act (1996), an amendment to the MFCMA |
SSB | spawning stock biomass |
SSC | Scientific and Statistical Committee |
SPR | Spawning Potential Ratio |
SPRTARGET | Target spawning potential ratio (equivalent to the target fishing mortality rate if the mix of fishing gears does not change over time) |
Steepness | Fraction of unfished recruitment expected when the stock is depleted to 20 percent of B0 |
T | Generic reference to time |
TMIN | Minimum time to rebuild to BMSY (with 50 percent probability) |
TMAX | Maximum permissible time to rebuild to BMSY (10 years unless the biology of the species does not allow the stock to rebuild in 10 years) |
TTARGET | Target time for rebuilding—must lie between TMIN and TMAX |
TAC | Total Allowable Catch |
UNFA | United Nations Agreement on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks |
USR | Upper Stock Reference |
WPFMC | Western Pacific Fishery Management Council |
YD | Year a stock was declared to be overfished |