ABSTRACT
Optimal yield (OY) is a conceptual tool for visualizing the trade-offs that often must be made in setting development priorities and goals. This chapter presents the concept of "OY" as a guide to clarify the trade-offs inherent in the decision-making process. OY combines the biological and economic parameters of development policy with a broader set of social concerns. Third World nations would benefit from explicitly incorporating the broader range of issues addressed under the OY model when designing and implementing their own fisheries policies. The concept of OY makes explicit the fact that fisheries management involves choices and that these choices inevitably are based on competing values. The OY concept combines social and cultural variables in addition to the biological and economic variables which traditionally have dominated most fisheries policies. The concept of OY was introduced as a means of visualizing the interplay between social, economic, and biological parameters of fisheries development.
