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THE ABOVE IN WISCONSIN WERE ONCE IN BARREN COW PASTURES; THEIR FISHING DEPENDED ON SHORi- UUEDHATCHERY TROUT. NOW, THANKS TO STATE PURCHASE AND OTHER PROTECTION, PLANTS COVER THE BANKS, RESULTING IN NARROWER, DEEPER CHANNELS HAVING LESS SLIT, MORE GRAVEL, MORE HIDING COVER, AND ABUNDANT WILD TROUT. ON IDAHO'S SLIVER CREEK (RIGHT), THE NATURE CONSERVANCY HAS ESTABLISHED A PRESERVE, LIKEWISE ENfOURAGING NATURAL HABITAT, TROUT AND OTHER WILDLIFE TO THRIVf. ® TR()L"1' Continued from page 33 understood, protected and restored. Of- ten, naturalrestoration ti5~ll fo11o5con its own accord from protection, that is, from the remo<<ll of abuse. The self- healingpowers of Nanur are immense. The concept of health-in our case, ecos}'stem health-should he a major objective, alongside the objective of good fishing.:~nd the do-ncrharm te- net of medicine: should be followed in whatever direct rector ~rtiye work we do, as in all applied biology. Ecosystem health is one of those im- portant but elusive broad objectives, like good fishing, that can never be wholly attained. \o matter how healthy, an organism, communityor institution might ah~•ays be even healthier, just as fishing might ahvays be better. Some- one once defined health as "a state of inadequate diagnosis."Abetter defini- tion would be that of the Wisconsin ecologist, fohn C. \eess. He suggested that the health ofanysystem implies (1) operation near its inherent potential, (2) long-term stability, (3) resilience. and (4) possession of natural self=heal- ing powers. Arty stream, lake or water- shedthat lives up to that ~~ill sureh be in good shape, and ~~~11 likely provide su- perb fishing. almost all of t31e world's stocks of tbod fish have been severely oyerhar- vested for many years. "Commercial fisherv management...on aworldwide -~-~, _"_ basis is mostly a failure," says ~~1'illiam Royce. Thls dOeS IlOt me2111 we would be better off if eve managed the fish popul~c- tionsbetter, it means dlev are producing far less of what we seek from them than theycould ifwe -nanaged orlrselvP.sprop- erly. 1~1'e should have fisherv health in mind and recognize that the main dis- ease is us. A~tuch the same applies to recreational fisheries, h~Iost operate at far less than is their capacin• to provide fishing enjoy- ment. Here, too, the main problem is human acti~~ty-the things we do. A NATURAL APPROACH In devclopinf; rcological fisheryman- agement, we can undoubtedly take tips about moderation, restraint, and diyer- sin• of objectives and methods from America's "I\ew Forestry,"a ref~lrrn from clearcutting. Also, some of Europe's u-a- ditional monoculture ~f trees is being changed to a diyer~se, more natural for- estry. Compared to tr ~tditional practice, ecological fishery management-ori- ented toward healthy populations of 5r'ild fish-would be heavih' based on habit<u, would he more comprehensive and, at the same time, would be more specific. The greater comprehensiveness may often take the form of an PfO.S}'SIPYI! ~~ firoach-protectingand resturingwhole systems of plants and aninr~tls, rather MANY MIDWESTERN STREAMS LIKE