Abstract
Fisheries provide food, feedstuff, and materials which are reliant on ecosystem services provided by marine and freshwater systems. Fish spawn and mature in aquatic systems, from which they are harvested by fishers, distributed and processed in households, restaurants, or processing plants, and either eaten by consumers, used in aquaculture, horticulture or agriculture, or used in manufacturing. The movement of fish from sea to plate follows distinct sequential stages. We call this the “fisheries system”. While each stage of the fisheries system has been the focus of specific research activities, these activities have generally proceeded from the perspective of individual disciplines, e.g., oceanography, chemistry, biology, ecology, resource dynamics, economics, business management, food science, processing, nutrition studies, etc. As a result, their objectives, data, models, discussions, etc., do not present an effectively integrated perspective of the fisheries system as a whole. This Special Feature brings together research from across disciplines to provide a broad perspective of the walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma fisheries system. While this falls short of being a fully integrated model, it highlights key interfaces among disciplines and illustrates fundamental research questions for each stage. By highlighting these questions and interfaces, we hope to foster an intellectual environment that will lead to true “integrated research” that can best be pursued by multi-disciplinary teams rather than by individual scientists who limit their research activities to the narrow scope of their specific disciplines.
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Acknowledgments
This Special Feature is based on the results from two academic events organized at the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science Symposium “From the birth to the table of walleye pollock: social-ecological systems and management” (September 17, 2012 in Shimonoseki, Japan), and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) Topic Session “Social-ecological systems on walleye pollock and other commercial gadids under changing environment: inter-disciplinary approach” (October 16, 2012 in Hiroshima, Japan). The authors deeply appreciate the kind support received from the staff of the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science and PICES who helped organize these two events. In addition, we thank the editorial committee of Fisheries Science (Chair: Prof. Tadashi Tokai and Senior Editor Takashi Yamakawa) for their willingness to dedicate the very first Special Feature in the journal. Finally, all the costs for publishing this Special Feature were financially supported by the Fisheries Research Agency of Japan.
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This article is sponsored by the Fisheries Research Agency, Yokohama, Japan.
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Makino, M., Kim, S., Velikanov, A. et al. Introduction: from the birth to the table of walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma . Fish Sci 80, 103–107 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0728-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0728-8