Given that fisheries are often a low value resource, there is a real need to understand the trade-off in ecological and economic risk associated with harvesting; the benefits of harvesting, namely from the catch; and the costs associated with management.This relationship is known as the risk-cost-catch frontier and has been adopted conceptually by AFMA. Catch has been defined in terms of both its mean and variability. If, for example, fishing becomes increasingly aggressive, the overall mean catch may increase, at least in the short term, but so too may its inter-annual variability. Management costs are defined broadly in terms of the cost of information needs, the management decision process, management measures, and research and compliance costs. Finally, risk is used in the context of the change and consequence of undesirable consequences to the target species, associated species as well as to the economics of the fishery. Although the directions of the 3-way trade-offs are well understood conceptually, this frontier is only theoretically defined and considerable work is required to develop a practical framework that can assist fisheries managers. The need of fishery managers is at the level of implementation across a portfolio of fisheries. That is, for a given level of risk, what are the associated costs and catches? Conversely, if costs or catches are adjusted, what will be the exact effect on risk?