Biochemical genetics and fishery management: an historical perspective

Abstract

This paper traces the development of applications of biochemical genetic methods to problems of fishery management over a period of four decades. In the 1950s, details of presumed genetic structuring offish species appeared destined for revelation through Mendelian characters identified by immunogenetic procedures. In the 1960s, immunogenetic methods were displaced by protein electrophoresis, with a proliferation of reports of genotypic and allelic data for protein‐coding loci. In the 1970s, disagreement about the biological significance of protein polymorphisms delayed acceptance of management applications of this variation. In the 1980s, management applications included identification of relationships among populations, analyses of mixed stock fisheries, and uses in fish culture, conservation biology and forensics. The complementary relationship between protein electrophoresis and nucleic acid technologies is stressed, with a plea to recognize the unique attributes of properly applied protein electrophoresis in fishery management.