The project aims to develop the methodology for calculating targets and reference points within the International council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) in accordance with the new demands of achieving maximum sustainable yields (MSY) and ecosystem-based management (ESBM).

The project will be integrated with ICES working group on the Assessment of Baltic Fisheries, WGBFAS, which gives scientific advice for the commercial stocks of the Baltic Sea to the European Commission. We have developed a routine to calculate MSY employing a stochastic operative model (SOM-MSY) which has met some of the demands with the new management. The project aims at (i) finding principles for multispecies MSY under ESBM considering surplus production in stocks and the share taken by predators, (ii) develop SOM-MSY for multiple species to comply with ESBM and apply it to the herring, sprat and cod of the Baltic Sea, (iii) analyse the effects of the spatial movement of these species.