Inland fisheries are of high socio-economic and socio-cultural importance, and provide a myriad of benefits to society (Weithman 1999; Welcomme & Naeve 2001;Arlinghaus, Mehner & Cowx 2002). However, multi-purpose use patterns, especially in industrialised countries, have created a distinct climate for change within the inland fisheries sector. Activities such as agriculture, impoundment, channelisation, deforestation, navigation, wetland reclamation, urbanisation,
hydropower generation, water abstraction and transfer, and waste disposal have altered freshwater ecosystems profoundly, probably more than terrestrial ecosystems (Cowx 2002). As a result, the majority of freshwater ecosystems in industrialised countries are impacted and the fisheries heavily modified or degraded.