Foreword

In 1956 when I first, with some trepidation, strapped on an aqualung and dived into southern seas, I was overwhelmed by the richness of the scene around me. Since then I have dived on many parts of the southern Australian coast, and have come to learn and appreciate the astonishing diversity of the algae, invertebrates and fishes in our coastal waters. Sadly, however, the sea is also a dumping ground for wastes, and its wealth has too often been over-exploited and plundered by fishers. We must now learn to protect this remarkable heritage before it is too late, and we can only do so by learning the habitats, distribution and abundance of the wealth of species present, and the threats to them before it is too late. This electronic book is a remarkable, cyclopaedic work, a veritable tour de force, which brings together in painstaking detail practically all that is known about the potentially threatened fish fauna on our southern continental shelf. This book provides, as nothing has before, a sound basis on which to recognise threatened marine fishes, those at risk, and those for which we need more information to determine their status. The volume will constitute a valuable resource for managers, and for all those interested and concerned about human impacts on our natural systems. But knowledge brings responsibility. So I hope that full use will be made of the information provided, and that managers will not hesitate take appropriate and sufficient steps to ensure that populations of species at risk will be managed sustainably.