Bridging single-species models to ecosystem-based maximum sustainable yield for environmental sustainability in marine fisheries

Maximum sustainable yield remains a central biological reference concept in fisheries management. Its reliability is shaped by model assumptions, uncertainty, ecological interactions, and environmental change. The study objectives were to reconstruct the mathematical progression of maximum sustainable yield, from single-species deterministic models to ecosystem-based, multispecies formulations. The critical structured narrative review examines its development from equilibrium single-species models toward ecosystem-aware formulations. Classical production models are compared with age-structured, stock-recruitment, bioeconomic, precautionary, and multispecies approaches. The assumptions, data needs, uncertainty, and management implications are evaluated. Eight fisheries cases are used to illustrate contrasts in data availability, assessment methods, harvest rules, ecosystem awareness, and shared-stock governance. These cases are treated as illustrative examples rather than a representative validation sample. Evidence shows that trophic interactions can alter species-specific and system-level reference points. The direction of change depends on food-web structure, selectivity, interaction strength, environmental productivity, and management objectives. Environmental variation can also affect growth, recruitment, natural mortality, habitat capacity, and species interactions. Reference points should therefore be updated when productivity becomes nonstationary. Biological reference points should not be interpreted as fixed constants under changing ecological conditions. Economic objectives, social needs, and conservation goals must also be distinguished from biological yield objectives. A five-dimension readiness framework is proposed as a preliminary hypothesis-generating heuristic. Alternative weighting schemes indicate that some borderline classifications are sensitive to assumptions. Independent validation and inter-rater testing are therefore required before operational use. Important data limitations are evident in several Indonesian fisheries. However, these limitations should not be treated as the only management constraint. Governance, enforcement, fleet structure, socioeconomic incentives, habitat condition, and climate variability can independently affect performance. Greater use of adaptive monitoring, precautionary harvest rules, uncertainty analysis, and ecosystem indicators is therefore recommended. Multispecies assessment should be prioritized where trophic or technical interactions materially influence stock dynamics. Maximum sustainable yield is best retained as an analytical reference point rather than a literal catch target. Environmentally sustainable application requires precautionary, adaptive, and ecosystem-aware management that is matched to local data quality, ecological conditions, and institutional capacity.

کلیدواژه ها:

">Ecosystem-based fisheries management ، Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) ، Marine environmental sustainability ، Multispecies models ، Precautionary reference points ، Trophic interactions.