Sustainability, climate change, biodiversity and marine issues generally are becoming increasingly important as society faces up to the impact humans have on the environment.

Now a new book – Advances in Fisheries Science: 50 years on from Beverton and Holt – provides ample evidence that science is taking on board those concerns and providing evidence that will be invaluable to policy-and decision-makers wrestling with them, according to the publishers.

This timely book brings fisheries science up to date since the publication, more than 50 years ago, of On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations, by Raymond J H Beverton and Sidney J Holt. Many regard their 1957 publication as seminal and one of the most important books on fisheries ever published.

Advances in Fisheries Science builds on that important base, and draws on a diverse range of international authors – many of whom are based at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas), where Beverton and Holt’s original work was carried out.

Traditional fishery subjects are covered in the new publication, alongside a broad sweep of topics far beyond the examples of North Sea plaice and haddock on which the previous book was based.

Considering the increasing importance now given to ecological approaches to fishery management, chapters span the related subjects of

· benthic ecology

· ecosystem changes linked to fishing

· life-history theory

· the effects of chemicals on fish reproduction, and

· the use of sounds in the sea by marine life.

Stephen Lockwood, a marine consultant at Coastal Fisheries Conservation and Management in North Wales and a one-time employee at Cefas’ predecessor (the MAFF marine laboratory), said: "This book is a fitting tribute to two of the iconic names of fishery science – Ray Beverton and Sidney Holt … In addition to demonstrating some of the ongoing developments in the theory of fishery population dynamics, there are chapters … on bass and elasmobranchs, digital mapping and environmental acoustics – subjects, technologies and ideas virtually undreamt of by fishery scientists 50 years ago. The ‘cherry’ on the cake, however, is the foreword by Sidney Holt himself.

”The editors, contributors and the Cefas Laboratory, Lowestoft, are to be congratulated on producing an interesting, readable and worthy tribute to their eminent predecessors’ seminal work.”

Cefas’ Dr Andy Payne said: “I was truly delighted at the readability, quality and farsightedness of the contributions offered … [it is] a celebration of some of the successes of fisheries and marine environmental science that are not so often aired publicly…. [I hope] that readers will enjoy both our review of the past and the crystal ball gazing contained in many of the chapters.”

Advances in Fisheries Science is a 568-page hardback publication with 109 illustrations. It is published in the UK by Blackwell Publishing (now known as Wiley-Blackwell) and is available now, priced at £99.50.

To view sample pages online and to order a copy, visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/9781405170833.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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