The most established basis for estimating an Acceptable Biological Catch was by a conventional stock assessment, which typically used -shery time series data to estimate current stock size and productivity. However, majority of -sh stocks lack adequate description of catches, surveys, efforts, or information about life history characteristics to support a conventional stock assessment. Recent requirements to set scienti-cally-based catch limits, along with stock depletion and growing consumer demand for sustainably managed -sheries, have created an emerging number of methods for estimating over-shing thresholds and setting catch limits for stocks with limited data. This research aimed to evaluate methods that determine an ABC as a basis for setting annual catch limits for small yellow croaker, . Using a management strategy evaluation approach, 54 established management procedures (MPs) for setting catch-limits in -sheries with three fishing effort trend scenarios were compared. Performance was evaluated with respect to overfishing, biomass, and yield. According to the trade-offs between the expected relative yield, the probability of over-shing (POF), and the probability of the biomass being below three different reference points in which the relative yield was not less than 50%, POF was less than 50% and the probability of was less than 20%. Our results indicated that there were six MPs that met the established management target under both the generic fleet and increased fleet scenario simulations, while fourteen MPs met management targets under the decreased fishing mortality scenario simulation. FMSYref50 was considered to be the best MP for the yellow croaker fishery within three fishing mortality scenarios. Under the FMSYref50 MP, POF varied with a median of between 5.46% and 6.7%, the probability of was between 15.66% and 22.73%, and the long-term relative yield varied from 52% to 100%. However, the ABC calculated under FMSYref50 was only 10800 tons, which would lead to a sharp decline in production compared with the current state of the fishery. The DynF MP was therefore suggested as the management strategy for the small yellow croaker fishery in consideration of the requirement of reducing numbers of fishing fleets. Under the decreased fishing mortality scenario simulation, the probability of overfishing was 37.84%, the probability of was 38.63%, the long-term relative yield was 84% under the DynF MP, and the ABC was 40300 tons. The sensitivity analysis showed that the ABC allowed by the DynF MP was robust to the uncertainty of production data and abundance index, however, the ABC was sensitive to high imprecision in natural mortality rate, FMSY_M, and current biomass and provided more yield on average given increased observations. This indicated that the accuracy of parameters should be emphatically improved in conducting stock assessments with the DynF MP.