Current issues with fish and fisheries: editor's overview and introduction

摘要: Summary. 1. By any measure, fishes are among the world's most important natural resources. Annual exploitation from wild populations exceeds 90 million tonnes, and fish supply over 15% of global protein needs as part total annual trade exceeding $US 55 billion. Additionally, with 25 000 known species, biodiversity ecological roles being increasingly recognised in aquatic conservation, ecosystem management, restoration environmental regulation. 2. At same time, substantial management problems now affect production, exploitable stocks, diversity, trophic structure, habitat quality local composition communities. 3. In marine systems, key issues include direct effects on fish, habitats other organisms, while or water arise also atmospheric, terrestrial coastal environments to which systems linked. In freshwaters, flow regulation obstruction by dams, fragmentation, catchment pollution, alterations, exotic introductions nursery-reared widespread issues. 4. Management responses fisheries reserves both freshwater habitats, their effectiveness is evaluated. Policies emphasise integral components ecosystems rather than individually but rationalisation fishing pressures presents many challenges. Europe, North America elsewhere, policies freshwaters encourage protection, integrated watershed restoration, resources will cause continued change. All these approaches require development evaluation, benefit a perspective understanding ecologists fully involved. 5. Synthesis applications. Although making small contribution Journal Applied Ecology past, leading work fish-related themes appear this mainstream ecology journals. As special profile five papers shows, significant contributions diverse that here reserves, river for accumulation contaminants, interactions predators, fitness salmonids nurseries. This overview outlines current context applied emerging, it identifies scope further contributions.