The lighter side of reference points

Applied fisheries science is currently undergoing a fundamental philosophical self-examination. This is due to some spectacular local failures in fish stock management in the recent past, and major international initiatives (ecosystem-based fisheries management, codes of conduct and the precautionary approach) which require interpretation and implementation. There is no shortage of responses to the call for a new collection of fish stock assessment and management systems (paradigm), often in the form of philosophical papers in the sections of scientific journals dedicated to such treatments. In this paper I offer some opinions on the opinions, viewpoints and perspectives which have gained attention over the last few years. It is a practitioner's opinion. Fish stock assessment should be modeled after medical practice in which the stock is the patient, the biologist is the doctor, and the fishery is the sustainable disease. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.