Webinar: Fishing for truth: Fighting misconceptions surrounding forage fish | Product

University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences Professor Ray Hilborn is considered one of the foremost fisheries researchers in the world. In this webinar, Hilborn will discuss his latest study, which disputes previous findings on the impact of human and natural predation on forage fish such as anchovies, sardines, and herring.

Forage fish are some of the most abundant exploited species in the sea and provide vital food security through direct human consumption and their use in aquaculture feed, at a low environmental impact compared to most other methods of food production. However, concerns raised by the scientific community that forage fish harvesting can have harmful impacts on predators have called into question the sustainability of the fishery. In their study, Hilborn and his colleagues dispute the methods of previous studies on forage fish and suggest that more and better research is necessary before sound policy advice can be given for the management of regional forage fish fisheries.