"The book covers fishery assessments, habitat and community manipulations, and common practices for managing stream, river, lake, and anadromous fisheries. Chapters on history; ecosystem management; management processes; communications with the public; introduced, undesirable, and endangered species; and the legal and regulatory frameworks provide the context for modern fisheries management." From fisheries.org.
Designed for beginning-level readers who have not yet completed more technical coursework in math and science, this book introduces the breadth of the fisheries conservation and management process--rather than the depths and details of specific fisheries conservation and management settings. It provides a broad background--including basic information on fish, their habitats, and people who fish for them; provides numerous examples of both successes and failures, strengths and weaknesses of particular conservation or management strategies and programs (See Chs. 8, 12); and focuses on the laws that govern the management process and management activities--(i.e., regulating harvest, the use of hatcheries in fisheries management, habitat- related management) and on the types of management and conservation activities that are used.
Inland fisheries are vital for the livelihoods and food resources of humans worldwide but their importance is underestimated, probably because large numbers of small, local operators are involved. Freshwater Fisheries Ecology defines what we have globally, what we are going to lose and mitigate for, and what, given the right tools, we can save. To estimate potential production, the dynamics of freshwater ecosystems (rivers, lakes and estuaries) need to be understood. These dynamics are diverse, as are the earths freshwater fisheries resources (from boreal to tropical regions), and these influence how fisheries are both utilized and abused. Three main types of fisheries are illustrated within the book: artisanal, commercial and recreational, and the tools which have evolved for fisheries governance and management, including assessment methods, are described. The book also covers in detail fisheries development, providing information on improving fisheries through environmental and habitat evaluation, enhancement and rehabilitation, aquaculture, genetically modified fishes and sustainability. The book thoroughly reviews the negative impacts on fisheries including excessive harvesting, climate change, toxicology, impoundments, barriers and abstractions, non-native species and eutrophication. Finally, key areas of future research are outlined. Freshwater Fisheries Ecology is truly a landmark publication, containing contributions from over 100 leading experts and supported by the Fisheries Society of the British Isles. The global approach makes this book essential reading for fish biologists, fisheries scientists and ecologists and upper level students in these disciplines. Libraries in all universities and research establishments where biological and fisheries sciences are studied and taught should have multiple copies of this hugely valuable resource. About the Editor John Craig is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Fish Biology and has an enormous range of expertise and a wealth of knowledge of freshwater fishes and their ecology, having studied them around the globe, including in Asia, North America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. His particular interests have been in population dynamics and life history strategies. He is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and the Royal Society of Biology.
The current high demand for fish and increased awareness of the role of the environment in supporting human well being has led to a situation where attitudes to inland water resources are changing rapidly. Trends in resource use and environmental impact are very evident in inland waters which are particularly vulnerable as they act as collectors of all the activities occurring in their basins and rank as some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. The principle changes influencing the evolution of the aquatic resource for fisheries are described in this book, which has been compiled for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
