Four center members fish for sustainable solutions with new book

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Few concepts seem more limitless than the idea of all the fish in the ocean – a comforting assumption that is both false and dangerous and explored in a new book by four center experts and others.

Sustainable Fisheries: Multi-Level Approaches to a Global Problem presents multi-level approaches to the issue of unsustainable fisheries and provides potential solutions.

Center members William Taylor, University Distinguished Professor in Global Fisheries Systems and Abigail Lynch, University Distinguished Fellow and PhD student in fisheries, along with Michael Schechter, professor of international relations in MSU’s James Madison College, edited the book. Additionally, center members Chiara Zuccarino-Crowe, University Distinguished Fellow and PhD student in fisheries, and Ken Frank, professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and the College of Education, are among the authors.

The book, Lynch says, is a call to action for a conference on global sustainable fisheries. “We see this as a lightning rod – a way to give vital information to policy makers and bring an important issue to the forefront,” she said.

This book discusses the importance of fisheries from a global perspective, describes current fisheries failings, and provides recommendations for more sustainable practices such as food and livelihood security, ecosystem-based and community-based management, governance reforms, reduced capacity, and accountability.

The book underscores the urgency of the sustainable fisheries issue, highlights inadequacies of current institutional mechanisms to deal with this global concern, and identifies areas for change.

The 337-page book is published by the American Fisheries Society. To purchase, see here.

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