While stock assessments may form the primary basis for choosing management strategies, they should not be expected to do the impossible - predict the future with certainty. A good stock assessment, therefore, will not provide a single right 'answer', but should rather give a range of choices showing the predicted outcomes and any trade-offs. The choice between such options should be made by fishery managers, guided by their attitudes towards risk and the socio-economic priorities for the fishery, and not by stock assessment scientists.