Fisheries management systems around the world are highly diverse in their design, operation, and effectiveness at meeting objectives. A variety of management institutions, strategies, and tactics are used across disparate regions, fishing fleets, and taxonomic groups. At a global level, it is unclear which particular management attributes have greatest influence on the status of fished populations, and also unclear which external factors affect the overall success of fisheries management systems. We used expert surveys to characterize the management systems by species of 28 major fishing nations and examined influences of economic, geographic, and fishery-related factors. A Fisheries Management Index, which integrated research, management, enforcement, and socioeconomic attributes, showed wide variation among countries and was strongly affected by per capita gross domestic product (positively) and capacity-enhancing subsidies (negatively). Among 13 management attributes considered, three were particularly influential in whether stock size and fishing mortality are currently in or trending toward desirable states: extensiveness of stock assessments, strength of fishing pressure limits, and comprehensiveness of enforcement programs. These results support arguments that the key to successful fisheries management is the implementation and enforcement of sciencebased catch or effort limits, and that monetary investment into fisheries can help achieve management objectives if used to limit fishing pressure rather than enhance fishing capacity. Countries with currently less-effective management systems have the greatest potential for improving long-term stock status outcomes and should be the focus of efforts to improve fisheries management globally.resource management | stock assessment | fisheries enforcement | fishery subsidies | marine conservation S tudies in recent years have yielded divergent views of the status of marine populations and recommendations for how the world's fisheries should best be managed (1-6). Although scientists are generally unanimous in calling for stronger management, some proposed solutions involve widespread establishment of marine reserves (4), whereas others involve greater investment in management structures, such as stock assessments and enforcement of catch or effort limits (6-8), or in reforms of fishing fleets toward rights-based management (1). Fisheries management systems involve a wide array of policies and regulations to meet conservation and socioeconomic objectives (5, 9, 10). These aspects vary within and among countries, target species, and fishing fleets. Given the great diversity in fisheries management systems, it has not been clear which specific management characteristics lead to success across systems, but it seems increasingly clear that successful attributes involve the capacity to limit fishing pressure (1, 2, 6-8, 11).We used expert surveys to characterize attributes of research, management, enforcement, and socioeconomics of fisheries management systems in 28 ma...