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Synopsis The overutilization of fish stocks, the overcapitalization of fisheries, the removal of associated benefits to society and growing concern over the conservation of marine biodiversity have resulted in a line of fisheries research that is multidisciplinary, dynamic and precautionary in approach. All the biological, ecological and economic factors need to be analysed if the forces regulating the dynamics of a fishery are to be appraised. This publication looks at the assumptions underlying the optimal allocation of renewable natural resources; lists the bioeconomic points of reference resulting from analysis of fisheries in supposed conditions of equilibrium; analyses bioeconomic models according to ecological interdependence factors (such as competition and predation) and technological factors (such as competition between fleets with different fishing capacity); offers a time-series analysis of fisheries and estimates the level of optimal effort; proposes mathematical models applied to bioeconomic analysis to support fisheries management plans; refutes the assumption of uniform resource distribution, incorporating a spatial dimension in fisheries dynamics analysis; and expounds basic elements of decision-making theory and criteria that reflect different attitudes to risk aversion in fisheries management.