Professor, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC. Born: Paris, France.
Dr. Daniel Pauly is an international expert in the management of fisheries and the assessment of their effects on marine ecosystems.
Some of Dr. Pauly’s work has included establishing strong relationships between the surface area of gills and the growth of fishes and aquatic (gill-breathing) invertebrates; studying the effects of overfishing; developing new methods for estimating fish populations; and helping to design, implement, and perfect methods using length-frequency data instead of the age of fish to estimate parameters of fisheries statistics such as growth and mortality.
He helped develop two major projects: ELEFAN and FishBase. ELEFAN (electronic length frequency analysis) made it possible to use length-frequency data to estimate the growth and mortality of fishes. FishBase is an online encyclopedia of fish and fisheries comprised of information on more than 30,000 different species. Both projects received worldwide attention and through multiple upgrades and additions, are still prominent in fisheries biology.
Highlights: Numerous contributions to peer-reviewed journals, presenting concepts and methods in use around the world. This pertains, notably, to the ecosystem modeling approach found in the Ecopath software, FishBase, the online encyclopedia of fish, and the global mapping of trends in fisheries in the Sea Around Us project at UBC.
Background: Professor at the Fisheries Centre, UBC, since 1994, of which he was the Director from 2003-08. Dr. Pauly spent many years with the International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM), Philippines, first as a Post-Doctoral Fellow (1979-80), then as Associate Scientist (1980-85), Senior Scientist (1985-9, and Director, Resources Assessment and Management Program (1986-94).
Affiliations: Board member, Natural Resources Defense Council, NY; Oceana, Washington, DC.
Editorial: Several, including African Journal of Marine Science; Fish and Fisheries; Marine and Freshwater Research.
Honours: Several, notably Excellence in Ecology, Germany (2007); Volvo Prize, Sweden (2006); featured in in Who’s Who in Black Canada 2 (2006); Cosmos Prize, Japan (2005); Roger Revelle Medal, IOC/UNESCO (2004); American Fisheries Society, Award of Excellence (2004); Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (Academy of Science; 2003); Scientific American’s 50 Research Leaders (2003); Murray Newman Award for Excellence in Marine Conservation Research, Vancouver Aquarium (2001); plus six honorary doctorates and professorships.
Works: Authored or co-authored over 500 scientific articles, including “Fishing Down Marine Food Webs” in Science and “Toward Sustainability in World Fisheries” in Nature; book chapters; authored, edited and co-edited 30 books, notably: 5 Easy Pieces: The Impact of Fisheries on Marine Ecosystems (2010); Gasping Fish and Panting Squids: Oxygen, Temperature and the Growth of Water-Breathing Animals (2010); Darwin’s Fishes: An Encyclopedia of Ichthyology, Ecology and Evolution (2004); In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Eco-systems in the North Atlantic (2003); Méthodes pour l’évaluation des ressources halieutiques (1997); On the Sex of Fishes and the Gender of Scientists: A Collection of Essays in Fisheries Science (1994).
Reviewed in: Profiles in Science; Nature; NY Times; Globe & Mail; Vancouver Sun.
Education: Habilitation (Doctorate in Science equivalent; 1985); Doctorate (1979); Diploma (MSc equivalent), Fisheries Biology, Zoology and Physical Oceanography, Kiel University, Germany (1974).
Favourite book? ONE book? One book is not enough!
Favourite quote? There is grandeur in this view of life.
Given the chance, what would you love to do that you haven’t done yet? Relax.
What inspires you? Neat science.
Why do you do what you do? Because I can, and there are others who can’t.
Contact: Fisheries UBC | Sea Around Us | Wikipedia