Decision Interval Cumulative Sum Harvest Control Rules (DI-CUSUM-HCR) for managing fisheries with limited historical information

• We used the DI-CUSUM-HCR to manage a simulated data poor fishery.
• DI-CUSUM-HCR integrates Decision-Interval CUSUM and engineering process control.
• A combined recruitment and large fish indicator is used within the DI-CUSUM-HCR.

This study examines whether a fish stock can be managed using cumulative sum (CUSUM) control charts if limited historical information is available for the fish stock. We use the term ‘limited’ in the sense of having a minimal number of historical observations of relevant stock indicators and their respective control means (or reference points) that are aligned with the objectives of fisheries management. In the present study, a Decision Interval Cumulative Sum (DI-CUSUM) control chart was used to monitor two indices from a simulated fishery; the recruitment indicator and the large fish indicator (LFI). The fishery was subsequently managed using a harvest control rule (HCR) that triggered only when a significant deviation in the indicator trend was detected by the DI-CUSUM. The HCR was constructed using methods adopted from engineering process control theory where the adjustment in total allowable catch was determined by estimating the size of the shift in the indicator time series. We found that monitoring a combined indicator of both recruitment and LFI was more successful in controlling the fishery irrespective of the initial state of the fish stock. We discuss how DI-CUSUM could be incorporated into the management process for data poor fisheries.