BOOK REVIEWS

BIOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT OF THE WORLD TARPON AND BONEFISH FISHERIES. Edited by J. S. Ault. 441 pp. Published by CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, U.S.A., 2008. Price $119.95. ISBN-13: 978-0-8493-2792-6.

I spent many recent weeks trying to find an appropriate tarpon or bonefish expert to review this book, a search that took my emails around the world in a geographical spread almost as broad as the distribution ranges of the study species. Like a bonefish angler with a fly rod stalking his prey, I had several promising sightings and even got a couple of rises to the bait. Unfortunately, I did not succeed in landing a reviewer for two main reasons. First, as an outsider to this field, it was in fact difficult for me to find any tarpon or bonefish researchers anywhere in the world who had not contributed to one or more of the chapters in this extensive book. Second, the scope of this text is so wide, from basic biology to the human side of fisheries management, that the few independent would-be reviewers who I did manage to find felt that they could not do justice to the book as a whole. So, I was left with no option but to enter the tarpon and bonefish world myself.

I had some previous awareness of these species because their angling makes for very exciting video footage for those who are into that sort of thing and so seems to be a mainstay of fishing television channels across the U.S.A. Both tarpon and bonefish can be and frequently are fished for using relatively light fly fishing tackle, which in contrast to much present day sea game fishing reduces the encounter to its basics between man and fish. What I had not realized was just how big these fisheries had become in terms of geographical distribution, spreading from their birthplace in the Florida Keys of the U.S.A. to atoll fisheries in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean and the coasts of Australia, and in terms of their multibillion dollar financial size. Tarpon and bonefish are both big fish and big business.

Ault has addressed the complexity and size of his subject by assembling an impressive total of 71 contributing authors from around the world, although with a not unexpected heavy bias towards the U.S.A. As noted above, the subject areas covered by the book range from the absolutely fundamental, such as resolving evolutionary lineages, to the absolutely applied, such as some fascinating accounts of the early days of sport fishing for these fish in the Florida Keys. This material is arranged in five sections broadly covering descriptions of the world fisheries, biology and life-history dynamics, population dynamics and resource ecology, the appeal of fishing for these species and ecosystem-based management. Each section contains between four and nine chapters, making a total of 30 chapters supported by a single detailed index.

The book is both very well edited and competently produced technically. As I mentioned above, I was previously largely ignorant of these fish species beyond knowing that they grew big and made even bigger splashes, but at no stage, did I get completely lost within the detail of the chapters. The breadth of subjects covered is so diverse that there is an unavoidable change in writing style between chapters and particularly between sections, but I found this an attraction rather than an annoyance.

The main market for this book is clearly individuals involved somehow with tarpon and bonefish around the world. While this will mainly constitute fish and fishery researchers and managers, I am also sure that the book will also hold interest for those more interested in these species as sporting quarries. By species I mean tarpon and bonefish, although the frank and unedited/uncensored views expressed in the book of one angler in particular may make many fishery biologists feel a little persecuted. I think that this book will also hold value for fish and fisheries researchers and educators unconnected directly with these fish taxa because it is an outstanding example of a comprehensive coverage from basic biology through to the relatively new area of ecosystem-based fisheries management. In passing, it also gives the reader a vivid and balanced introduction to the world of human passions, which are so often a vital, if neglected, component of sport fisheries management.

IAN J. WINFIELD
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology,
Lancaster,
U.K.

AQUATIC STEWARDSHIP EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. Edited by B. A. Knuth and W. F. Siemer. 187 pp. Published by American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD, U.S.A., 2007. Price $60.00. ISBN-13: 987-1-888569-90-2.

Delivering outcomes by working in partnership and engagement are very much in focus for government agencies, the third sector, academics and private companies. This book therefore provides an opportune text reviewing efforts so far in the U.S.A. The purpose of the symposium was to organize the most current thinking about how to define, foster and evaluate desirable aquatic stewardship behaviours as well as how to develop the educational programmes and other motivating forces underlying such behaviour.

The text is presented in three parts. The first is comprised of two papers that set the scene by looking at definitions and management challenges. The second part comprises 10 pages that share examples of theory and practice of fostering stewardship. The third part discusses, in five pages, the challenges of measuring the effectiveness of stewardship schemes. The future direction and recommendation are clearly printed in Part 4. This structure does help the reader to navigate the subject, which can sometimes be difficult in presenting proceedings of symposia.

Knuth reminds us in Part 1 that the concept is not new and often stewardship is borne from stakeholders concerned about declining resources. Stewardship is therefore the actions or behaviours to enhance the quality of the environment, and there is a strong correlation between knowledge and behaviour, which supports the needs for education programmes. Fostering increasing participation in a consumptive fishery and maintaining the resource is highlighted as a major challenge. Part 2 covers a wide range of theory and practice from academic studies about social behaviour to practical projects with communities. It emphasizes the need not to forget the importance of the non-angler and also the benefits of working with youths. As I read the examples, I could draw many parallels with initiatives and projects here in the U.K. The example of line recycling bins was an interesting concept as something so simple but also powerful in reminding and fostering aquatic stewardship.

The importance of evaluating initiatives, yet difficulty in doing so sometimes, was evident in Part 3. The future direction has a clear message: those who benefit should be engaged and empowered. Although fisheries and aquatic resource professionals may be charged most directly with the responsibilities to protect aquatic resources, achieving the goals requires concentrated effort beyond the profession. In countries with private ownership of the resource, there is a direct benefit in engagement but the need to engage anglers and non-anglers is emphasized. An interesting point raised is the caution in promoting the line that participation in angling automatically makes good stewardship. This book will appeal to many readers of diverse backgrounds. The breadth of discussion from the social science behind human behaviour to government agency and third sector initiatives gives it this broad spectrum of appeal. The boating world should not be overlooked with several papers reviewing initiatives to promote aquatic stewardship among boat users. This is an excellent book that takes stock of an important aspect of fisheries management and reminds us of what we manage fisheries for.

DAFYDD EVANS
Environment Agency,
Bristol,
UK