New directions in fishery research 473 



of fisheries and of fishes. The average fishery programme of today is neither a one- 

 man nor a one-agency enterprise. It generally involves the collaboration of several 

 institutions, sometimes of several nations, and the participation o\' many scientists 

 having among them a wide variety of disciplines and talents. 



Most fishery investigations begin with the tacit hope that a solution to what had 

 looked Hke a clear-cut problem will be reached, and the work concluded in live or 

 six years. Of course this never happens. Research about the effect of varying ex- 

 ploitation upon irregularly oscillating populations of fishery organisms can not be 

 concluded for all time any more than can research about any other constantly changing 

 natural phenomena. In this connection, it might be helpful in our thinking to alter 

 our concept of the dimensions of time from years to generations. The time required 

 for a brood of fishes to reproduce itself (i.e. a generation) varies from one species 

 to another, but commonly runs about three to eight years. To formulate dependable 

 principles about fishes, it is necessary to follow many generations. Most fishery 

 problems also involve human affairs. Those that concern us now will probably be 

 much more acute a generation hence (i.e. 30 years from now) when people will be 

 more numerous and their food needs consequently greater. 



Thus the new directions in fishery research are towards greater comprehensiveness 

 — the whole of species with all their sub-populations; the whole of environments 

 with all their component species. This takes up again the tradition established far 

 back in the past, which is behind books like Fishes of the Gulf of Maine, and promises 

 to carry it forward to further enrich human knowledge about the sea. 



REFERENCES 



BiGELOW, Henry B. and Schroeder, William C. (1953), Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Fishery Bull. 



74, Fish. Bull., Fish and Wildlife Sen:, 53, 1-560, 288 text figs. 

 BiGELOW, Henry B. and Welsh, William W. (1924), Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Bull. i.S. Bur. 



Fish., 40, 1-550, 278 text figs. 



