Most of the world's marine fishery resources are overexploited. Despite the technical measures implemented, many depleted stocks have failed to recover. Recovery of fish stocks will be dependent on their reproductive potential, though there is increasing awar eness that the traditional indicators of reproductive potential are inadequate as they do not represent the capacity of populations to annually produce viable eggs and larvae. In addition, egg production is also influenced by ambient environmental conditions. Worldwide, considerable research is occurring to examine linkages between fish reproductive success and subsequent population dynamics. To broaden the scope of international integration there is a need for standardization and cross calibration of different protocols, demonstration of the latest methodological advances and creation of a common research platform that provides fisheries managers with realistic tools to promote fish stock recovery. To this end there have been important advances made recently to improve stock assessment methodology in order to promote sustainable exploitation of marine fishery resources.