Equilibrium, transient dynamics and sustainable reference points under age-specific natural mortality rates and varying levels of population productivity: The case of the Northern cod stock.

Scientific advisory bodies provide scientific advice for sustainable fisheries management based on the precautionary approach and maximum sustainable yield (MSY) reference points, such as spawning stock biomass (SSB) value B, and fishing mortality giving MSY, F. The lack of a stock-recruitment function (SRF) to identify a clear breakpoint B has recently emerged in important stock collapses. It also precludes the use of equilibrium-based methods to analyze the sustainability of F.