Interim Quota

An interim quota is a temporary catch limit set before a full stock assessment is complete, holding catch at a precautionary level while the analysis runs. Managers use it when an assessment slips its schedule or when a new or data-poor stock enters management and the science is not yet firm. The interim figure is usually conservative, often a rollover of the prior limit or a fraction of it, and is replaced once the assessment delivers a fishing-mortality-based limit. RFMOs set interim quotas for stocks awaiting reassessment so fishing does not pause or run uncapped.