Advances recorded in new landmark book

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.

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.

A full contents list - for fisheries managers, scientists and ecologists, students and other interested readers - is available online. 

Beverton (left) and Holt (right) at work on their book,
On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations,
at Cefas almost 60 years ago 

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, price £99.50.

About the editors of Advances in Fisheries Science

Andy Payne: He has been active in marine science, fisheries research and fisheries management for nearly 40 years (30 of which in South Africa). Andy is the editor of several coffee-table books and the (South) African Journal of Marine Science, and editor-in-chief of the ICES Journal of Marine Science.

John Cotter: Working on subjects such as fisheries, water pollution, ecology and statistics, John has been at Cefas for 26 years. He has an abiding interest in the wellbeing of the sea and its products. John is an admirer of Beverton and Holt's contributions.

Ted Potter: Ted has over 30 years' experience as a fisheries scientist investigating and providing expert advice, particularly in relation to the management of migratory salmonids and freshwater fish species and their fisheries.

Notes to editors

1. Cefas is an internationally renowned scientific research and advisory establishment, based at Lowestoft since 1902. It also has laboratories at Burnham-on-Crouch and Weymouth, and a number of other facilities around the UK.
2. Operating as an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Cefas works alongside government and other agencies, both in the UK and internationally, to play a vital role in securing healthy marine and freshwater environments for everyone's wellbeing, health and prosperity.
3. The agency achieves its aims by providing evidence-based scientific advice, managing related data and information, conducting world-class scientific research, and facilitating collaborative action through its wide-ranging international relationships. It applies its expertise and knowledge gained through over 100 years of applied science and research to fisheries management, environment and biodiversity protection, and aquaculture. For more detail about its range of activities visit /.
4. A jpeg of the book's cover and an historical photograph of Beverton and Holt are included with this release.

Press contact:
Anne McClarnon: Telephone: 01502 524370 / Email: anne.mcclarnon@cefas.co.uk