Freshwater fisheries are undervalued for their vital contributions to food security and biodiversity (Welcomme et al. 2010; Beard et al. 2011;Welcomme2011). Inland fisheries are part of an integrated community, dependent on biodiversity for their resiliency to natural variation and anthropogenic disturbance. The concept of ecosystem health is comprehensive, including biotic and abiotic components along with chemical and nutrient cycles, as well as the services provided to humans (Rapport et al. 1998, 1999). A healthy and productive aquatic ecosystem may, therefore, be defined as one that is resilient
to disturbance and maintains attributes of ecosystem structure and function such as habitat, species composition, genetic diversity, and production at levels similar to those observed in the absence of modern human activities. Conversely, perturbed ecosystems have one or more of these attributes compromised. Productive fisheries depend on healthy ecosystems, and the protection of fisheries requires the ongoing maintenance of ecosystem health.