MAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELD is a term population ecologists and economists use to define the theoretical top catch or yield of a species that can be taken indefinitely without depleting the population. The maximum sustainable yield is assumed to be half of the carrying capacity of a species. Commonly, the maximum sustainable yield is more than the optimum sustainable yield, which ends when yield is no longer economical.

Maximum sustainable yield is a long-term management approach, not a crisis recovery method. The European Union (EU), for instance, uses it for all stocks, not just those that are approaching unsus-tainability. According to the logistic model of growth, population in a new habitat, or one that is depleted will initially experience a slow growth rate, but will grow rapidly ...