Question

What is the "maximum sustainable yield" approach to resource management? Reproduce a graph and explain how to "maximally" harvest individulas from the target organism's population graphed. Expand the graph to illustrate your point. What are the potential problems of doing this? what are the alternatives to this harvest? (Subject: Environmental Biology)

Answer 1

Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is defined as the highest yield (or catch) that can be taken from a stock of species over an indefinite period. At this time, population size is maintained by maximum growth rate. The population is continued to be productive. In small populations, resource limitation does not affect individuals’ reproductive capacity. At MSY, there is a maximum population available for harvested because growth of the population is at its maximum at this point as large number of reproducing individuals is present. Above this point, breeding is limited and population reaches carrying capacity. At this point, there is less number of individuals to be harvested and yield goes to zero. This concept is used for management of fisheries.

As a simple calculation, it ignores the size and age of the animal being taken, its reproductive status, and it focuses solely on the species.

                MSY concept has certain theoretical and practical limitations. Enough data is not available to make to make a clear determination of the population's size and growth rate. It is difficult to calculate when the competition in a population becomes slow. The concept treat all individuals in the population as identical and ignores important points of population structure such as size or age classes, differential rates of growth, survival, and reproduction.