The Relation between Fisheries Management and Limnology

Abstract

Although many limnologists and fisheries biologists have a common goal—the prediction of the future size of fish stocks—there is little communication between the two disciplines. It is argued that the underlying cause of this undesirable schism is that limnologists and fisheries biologists do not share the same paradigm theory about the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. Communication would be improved, and progress perhaps facilitated, by a common paradigm. Because neither disciplineˈs paradigm has been particularly successful in generating useful predictions, it is suggested that a minority approach, here called empiricism, is common to both and should be encouraged. Encouragement is needed because although empiricism has been more effective than either paradigm, it is not adequately respected even by its practitioners. We must acknowledge the challenge of the empirical approach, and recognize its essential role in exposing predictable regularities in natural systems and in stimulating further empirical and explanatory studies, if we are to establish empiricism as a respected aspect of environmental research.