William Edwin Ricker, (August 11, 1908 – September 8, 2001) was a Canadian entomologist and important founder of

fisheries science Fisheries science is the academic discipline of managing and understanding fisheries. It is a multidisciplinary science, which draws on the disciplines of limnology, oceanography, freshwater biology, marine biology, meteorology, conservation, ...

. He is best known for the Ricker model, which he developed in his studies of

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

and recruitment in

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

. The model can be used to predict the number of fish that will be present in a fishery. He also had an international standing as an

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

and a scientific editor. He published 296 papers and books, 238 translations, and 148 scientific or literary manuscripts.Beamish et al. His 1958 publication, "Handbook of computation for biological statistics of fish populations" and later updates were the standard books on the subject for decades.

Achievements

Born in

Waterdown, Ontario Waterdown is a community in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton in the Canadian province of Ontario. Waterdown is approximately 60 km west of downtown Toronto and, as of 2021, has a population of approximately 24,400 residents. On Jan ...

; Ricker was an authority in the taxonomy of stoneflies, and evolved an elegant classification which his fellow entomologists praised as "a thing of beauty and simplicity that made evolutionary sense". In fisheries, he researched issues centred on Canadian fisheries and how to manage them. He is known particularly for his 1954 paper on recruitment and stock. He is also known for his ''Handbook of Computation for Biological Statistics of Fish Populations'', published in 1958. This 348-page handbook became the standard reference for students and professionals around the world. It is still used in China as the standard text for fisheries science. In 1950 Ricker became editor of th
''Journal of the Fisheries Research Board''
and during his twelve-year tenure developed this into perhaps the most influential fisheries science journal in the world. In his 1969 paper, ''Food from the sea'', he reasoned that the quantity of food that could be harvested from the sea would be 150–160 million tonnes or 2.5 times the level in 1968. He demonstrated that an estimate of 100 million tonnes was too low and an estimate of 200 million tonnes was too high. Ricker taught himself Russian so he could read the original papers of Feodor Baranov, a Russian fisheries scientist. In 1973 he published a 428-page Russian–English dictionary on terminology in hydrobiological science for students of fisheries and aquatic biology (Ricker 1973). This dictionary remains the only specialized text on fisheries terminology.Ricker (1973)

Honours

His medals and awards include: in 1970 the Flavelle Medal, in 1966 the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada Gold Medal, and in 1983 the F.E.J. Fry Medal. In 1969, he received the first Award of Excellence of the American Fisheries Society. On his death in 2001, the Society established the William E. Ricker Resource Conservation Award. The University of Manitoba, Dalhousie University, and the University of Guelph, awarded him honorary doctoral degrees, and in 1986 he was appointed to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. The

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and i ...

fisheries

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

CCGS ''W.E. Ricker'' is named after him.

Notes

Other references

* Beamish, R J; Noakes, D J; Noakes D L G and Beamish, F W H (2003
William Edwin Ricker, OC, FRSC, LLD, DSc
* * Marland, Eri

* Noakes, David L. G. (Ed.) (2006
''Bill Ricker: an appreciation''
シュプリンガー・ジャパン株式会社, . * ''A Passion for Science: Bill Ricker — A Scientific Journey'' VHS Videotape, Canada, IM, 1994. * Ricker, W. E. (1954
Stock and Recruitment
''Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada'', 11(5): 559–623. * Ricker, W E (1958) ''Handbook of computation for biological statistics of fish populations''. Bulletin 119 of the Fisheries Resource Board, Canada, Ottawa. * Ricker, W E (1969) ''Food from the sea. In Resources and man, a study and recommendation report of the Committee on Resources and Man'', US National Academy of Sciences, Chap 5. W H Freeman, San Francisco, pp. 87–108. * Ricker, W E (1973) ''Russian–English dictionary for students of fisheries and aquatic biology''. Bulletin 183 of the Fisheries Resource Board, Canada, Ottawa.

External links

William E. Ricker, 1908-2001
''Fisheries Centre Newsletter'', 7(5): 1–2. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ricker, Bill 1908 births 2001 deaths Canadian entomologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Fisheries scientists Officers of the Order of Canada Scientists from Hamilton, Ontario 20th-century Canadian zoologists Presidents of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography