Sidney Holt’s legacy lives on in fisheries science

On 22 December 2019, the world of fisheries science and whale conservation lost one of its most ardent champions with the passing of Sidney J. Holt. His career began in 1947 at the age of 21. Ten years later, he and his colleague Ray Beverton published their authoritative monograph on quantitative fish population dynamics. In 1953, he joined the Fisheries Division of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and soon became heavily involved in assessing whale stocks under the auspices of the International Whaling Commission, a role that eventually led to advocating for animal rights and the cessation of commercial whaling. Later in life, he returned to fisheries assessment and management, particularly issues pertaining to the Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union, where he advocated for fishing mortality less than that associated with maximum sustainable yield. This themed set consists of articles written by authors who knew and collaborated with Sidney, who may have met him once or twice at an international meeting, and who only knew of him via his reputation and massive and influential list of publications. Their articles address a wide range of topics relating to his work throughout his career and reflect, in part, the influence that his work has had on thinking about quantitative modelling of animal populations.