<htm>Tamanho de maturação como instrumento de gestão pesqueira: uma revisão crítica</htm>

The size of individuals at maturation is currently used as a tool in fisheries management in order to indicate the minimum allowed lengths to caught, a measure aiming to protect young fish and increase the number of the spawner ones in stock. However, an opposite strategy was implemented by a new Brazilian law for recreational fishing, which limits catches to a maximum length, protecting from fisheries the largest individuals. In view of the potential application of this strategy in professional fishing also, this review highlights the biological and methodological attributes of a fisheries management based on the maturation individual size or the maximum one, and offers recommendations about fisheries management