Reconciling fisheries with conservation in watersheds: tools for informed decisions.

Abstract

Watersheds capture and deliver fresh water to streams, rivers, wetlands and lakes. They are fundamental landscape units for freshwater fisheries because they govern the characteristics of the annual hydrograph, the configuration and physical features of stream channels, and the input of organic matter and nutrients. Watersheds are also where we live, grow crops, and create various forms of industry, As the world's population grows, competition for water and the ecological goods and services that water provides grows more intense. Between 1900 and 1995, global consumption of fresh water rose sixfold, about twice the rate of population growth. At the same time, freshwater capture fisheries remained at a high level and aquaculture continued to increase. The result is an increasing conflict between water for fisheries and water for other human uses, with native freshwater biota becoming imperiled at an increasing rate. So important is the need to develop sustainable water policies that the United Nations General Assembly in December 2003 proclaimed the years 2005-2015 as the International Decade for Action, "Water for Life," which began with World Water Day, 22 March 2005.

Citation

Bisson, Peter A.; Beechie, Timothy J.; Pess, George R. 2007. Reconciling fisheries with conservation in watersheds: tools for informed decisions. American Fisheries Society Symposium. 49: 1865-1880