Productivity and Susceptibility Analysis
The Productivity and Susceptibility Analysis is a method for assessing the vulnerability of a fishery species or stock when a stock assessment is not available, using a set of predetermined measurable attributes and score rankings. It consists of a semi-quantitative risk assessment that relies on the life history characteristics of a stock (i.e., productivity) and its susceptibility to the fishery in question.
The productivity and susceptibility of a stock are determined by providing a score ranging from 1 (low risk) to 3 (high risk) for a standardized set of attributes related to each index (productivity = 10; susceptibility = 12). When scoring these attributes, it is also possible to assess the data quality associated with each attribute score and customize the analysis by weighting these attributes according to the fishery.
The PSA forms part of the MSC Risk‐Based Framework (RBF) and it has been long used in evaluating fisheries as a reasonable approach for determining risk.