THE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DECISION THAT WILL BE ADDRESSED BY THIS PROPOSAL IS THE DETERMINATION OF SPECIES SPECIFIC ANNUAL CATCH LIMITS AS MANDATED BY THE MAGNUSON-STEVENS FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT. THE DETERMINATION OF THE ANNUAL CATCH LIMITS (ACL) REPRESENTS ONE OF THE PRIMARY MANAGEMENT DECISIONS REQUIRED OF FISHERIES RESOURCE MANAGERS AT NOAAS SOUTHEAST FISHERIES SCIENCE CENTER AND THE GULF OF MEXICO FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL. THESE DECISIONS MUST BE MADE FOR ALL HARVESTED SPECIES SUBJECT TO A FISHERIES MANAGEMENT PLAN AND BE INFORMED BY THE BEST SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION AVAILABLE. SIGNIFICANT EFFORT HAS BEEN INVESTED IN IMPROVING STOCK ASSESSMENT SOFTWARE TO PRODUCE THE BEST POSSIBLE ESTIMATE OF STOCK STATUS IN THE FINAL YEAR OF AN ASSESSMENT. HOWEVER, ESTIMATING ACLS REQUIRES PROJECTING THE ASSESSMENT MODEL INTO THE FUTURE TO CALCULATE MAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELD (MSY) OR ITS PROXY, WHICH REQUIRES MANY ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING THE ENVIRONMENTAL, REGULATORY, SOCIAL