The Role of Molecular Genetics in Fisheries Management: Historical Perspectives

Applications of allelic variation to questions of fisheries management were firmly established with the advent of protein electrophoresis during the 1960s.   The STOCS symposium of 1980 affirmed the broad recognition of the management value of allelic variation in defining discrete population structures; at the same time these applications were being extended to quantifying individual population contributions in freshwater and marine mixtures.  Through the remainder of the 20^th century, expanding research and management groups focused on these primary uses; allelic markers increased, analytical processes were refined, and geographic baselines were clarified.  These uses - predominantly relating to neutral variation affected by the evolutionary processes of drift and isolation - are continuing in the 21^st century, and increasingly involve direct examination of DNA variation.   Concurrently and superimposed on population-oriented applications, the exponentially expanding investigations of the functional genome are yielding management insights into such issues as anadromy, morphology, colonization, hybridization, culture and temperature.  Amid cascading ongoing developments in discovery and analysis, the future of molecular genetics in fishery management remains bright but unknown; throughout the past 50 years, the only certainty has been the fundamental value of reliable allelic and genotypic data.