Several textbooks and useful compendia on fisheries have been published recently, and others are in preparation. The question then arises: why publish another book on fisheries at this time? My answer is 1) that fishery research and management are such broad subjects that it is difficult, if not impossible, to cover them adequately in one volume; 2) that consequently each author has stressed those aspects of greatest immediate interest to him; and 3) that to the best of my knowl edge no adequate broad treatment of the sociopolitical aspects of fishery management has yet .appeared, although...