Unalaska, AK – University of Washington biologists have challenged the idea that people "fish down the food web." A decade ago, a study suggested that fishermen go for predators first. When the fisheries at the top are depleted, fishermen would move onto smaller and smaller fish. Fishermen would go after cod at the top and then when that was depleted they would move onto herring and so on.

But Suresh Sethi, who led the University of Washington study and who has worked as a commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay, says that people are looking for profits - not predators. Since fishing is fundamentally a business, boats go after what will bring them the most money which isn't always the biggest fish. The study examined at global catch and economic data from the past 55 years, and it's the first study of its kind.

The University of Washington biologists say their research should help those managing fisheries anticipate where the economic pressures will be and which fisheries will be developed next.