Set of well-defined, pre-agreed management actions that describe how the harvest is to be managed (e.g., catch or effort-related limits) based on the state of a specified indicator(s) of stock status. Changes in stock status indicators must be measured against appropriate biological reference points inferred from monitoring data or models. For example, a harvest control rule can describe the various values of fishing mortality that will be aimed for at different levels of stock abundance.
Synonyms:
Decision rule