“The sea is a big place. Most fish are small. So it stands to reason that it is difficult to work out with any degree of accuracy just how many fish live in the sea. One way is to measure how many fish we pull out of it. But is that the best way? Or even an accurate way?” asks an editorial in this week’s (Feb. 21) issue of Nature.

The topic is featured on the cover of the journal and debated in two “Point/Counterpoint” commentaries, one jointly written by Ray Hilborn and Trevor Branch of the University of Washington, and the other by Daniel Pauly of the University of British Columbia. Read more here!