DIRECTOR'S FOREWORD

This report reviews ecosystem modelling and related work performed in the last decade on marine ecosystems of British Columbia. While many of our activities are global in scope and entail field work on other continents, we are equally committed to addressing the marine challenges of our home province. In fact, as the numerous references in this report indicate, the Fisheries Centre has worked extensively on British Columbia freshwater and marine ecosystems, which is especially evident from the number of theses of our graduate students. This research, however, has been under-utilised by outside institutions.

We therefore embraced the opportunity when Jack Mathias, as Senior Policy Advisor, Department of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada (DFO) Oceans Planning, gave us a small grant to review the work of the Fisheries Centre on ecosystem-based modelling and management within BC. Upon his agreement to disseminate this study beyond DFO, we edited this Fisheries Centre Research Report. This report synthesises past work and also scopes out future work to stimulate the transition, in BC and elsewhere, of fisheries management to ecosystem perspective.

We are thrilled to share this report on BC marine ecosystems with other institutions who may benefit by connecting it to their own activities, e.g., setting up marine protected areas along parts of the BC coast. The bulk of the work cited herein and the report itself are available from our website (www.fisheries.ubc.ca). We encourage those interested to contact the authors of this report and other Fisheries Centre researchers to clarify any issues related to the marine and freshwater ecosystems of BC and their modelling.

It is in this collaborative spirit that I invite you to read this report, which highlights the areas that we know well, so that together we can fill in the gaps with effective solutions that track and maintain marine ecosystem health to keep British Columbia beautiful!

Daniel Pauly
Director Fisheries Centre, UBC

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