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Shifting Baselines

The Past and the Future of Ocean Fisheries

  • Book
  • © 2011

Overview

Editors:
  1. Jeremy B. C. Jackson
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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Karen E. Alexander
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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  3. Enric Sala
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  • Prominence of editors and contributors

  • Importance of concept to fisheries and marine management

  • Growing public attention to marine and fisheries issues

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
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  2. Introduction: The Importance of Shifting Baselines

    1. Introduction: The Importance of Shifting Baselines

      • Jeremy B. C. Jackson, Karen E. Alexander
      Pages 1-7

  3. The Problem Defined

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-11
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    2. A Shoreline Remembrance

      • Carl Safina
      Pages 13-19

    3. The “March of Folly” in Global Fisheries

      • U. Rashid Sumaila, Daniel Pauly
      Pages 21-32

    4. If a Frond Falls in the Kelp Forest (does it make any sound?)

      • Randy Olson
      Pages 33-42

  4. Anchovies and Sardines

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 43-45
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    2. The Sardine-Anchovy Puzzle

      • Alec D. MacCall
      Pages 47-57

    3. Variations in Fisheries and Complex Ocean Environments

      • David B. Field, Francisco Chavez, Carina B. Lange, Paul E. Smith
      Pages 59-76

  5. Cod

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-78
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    2. The Historical Abundance of Cod on the Nova Scotian Shelf

      • W. Jeffrey Bolster, Karen E. Alexander, William B. Leavenworth
      Pages 79-113

    3. History and Context: Reflections from Newfoundland

      • Daniel Vickers, Loren McClenachan
      Pages 115-133

  6. Methods in Historical Marine Ecology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 135-136
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    2. Uncovering the Ocean’s Past

      • Heike K. Lotze, Jon M. Erlandson, Marah J. Hardt, Richard D. Norris, Kaustuv Roy, Tim D. Smith et al.
      Pages 137-161

    3. Whales, Logbooks, and DNA

      • Stephen R. Palumbi
      Pages 163-173

  7. From Fisheries Management to Ecosystems

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 175-176
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    2. Management in the Gulf of Maine

      • Andrew A. Rosenberg, Karen E. Alexander, Jamie M. Cournane
      Pages 177-191

    3. Lessons from Coral Reefs

      • Enric Sala, Jeremy B. C. Jackson
      Pages 193-203

    4. Epilogue: Shifting Baselines for the Future

      • Jeremy B. C. Jackson, Karen E. Alexander
      Pages 205-206

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 207-296
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Keywords

About this book

Shifting Baselines explores the real-world implications of a groundbreaking idea: we must understand the oceans of the past to protect the oceans of the future. In 1995, acclaimed marine biologist Daniel Pauly coined the term "shifting baselines" to describe a phenomenon of lowered expectations, in which each generation regards a progressively poorer natural world as normal. This seminal volume expands on Pauly's work, showing how skewed visions of the past have led to disastrous marine policies and why historical perspective is critical to revitalize fisheries and ecosystems.

Contributions include case studies, recommendations for research methods and effective management, and inspiring stories that illustrate why degraded fisheries affect us all. Readers, from students to professionals, will benefit enormously from this informed hindsight.

About the authors

Jeremy B. C. Jackson is Director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Karen Alexander is a historian who is currently Project Coordinator of the Gulf of Maine Cod Project. Enric Sala is National Geographic Society Fellow.

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