Species Concepts and Their Importance in Fisheries Management and Research

Abstract

Species concepts are important because adoption of a particular concept leads to decisions as to what species to name or recognize. The evolutionary species concept is the most general concept under a realist paradigm and leads to the recognition of species in nature that integrate well with current evolutionary theories of speciation. Aligning the nomenclature of species with the most relevant species concept available ensures that accessing the records associated with species' names will yield the most informative data possible given current understanding. Distributed information systems (systems of servers that permit access to biodiversity databases) now allow managers and fisheries biologists unprecedented access to biodiversity information in the form of collection data. This biodiversity information can be used to document known occurrences of species, prepare faunal lists for particular regions, and forecast potential distributions of both native and exotic species.