Jeffrey Alexander Hutchings FRSC (September 11, 1958 – January 30, 2022) was a Canadian

fisheries scientist 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 was a professor of biology, and the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Chair in Fish, Fisheries, and Oceans at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

Early life

Hutchings was born in

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, on September 11, 1958. He graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

, before obtaining a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

from

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

. He was subsequently awarded a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

from Memorial in 1991.

Career

After graduating from Memorial, Hutchings first worked at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and at

Fisheries and Oceans Canada Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO; ) is a department of the Government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's economic, ecological and scientific interests in oceans and inland ...

(DFO) in

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...

. He later joined the Department of Biology at

in 1995, eventually becoming Killam Memorial Chair in Fish, Fisheries and Oceans. Hutchings was known for his work on the

evolution of fish Fish began evolving about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this time that the early chordates developed the skull and the vertebral column, leading to the first craniates and vertebrates. The first fish lineag ...

life histories and on the collapse, recovery, and sustainable harvesting of marine fishes. He authored three books (including ''A Primer of Life Histories: Ecology, Evolution, and Application'', published the year before his death), as well as more than 250 journal articles. He also sat on the editorial boards of eight scientific journals (including the ''

Proceedings of the Royal Society B ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905: * Series A: for papers in physical sciences and mathematics. * Series B: for papers in life s ...

'', ''

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences The ''Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal which focuses on multidisciplinary field of aquatic sciences. It was founded in 1901 by the Biological Board of Canada, later known as the Fisheries R ...

'', '' Functional Ecology'', ''

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society Transaction or transactional may refer to: Commerce *Financial transaction, an agreement, communication, or movement carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange an asset for payment *Debits and credits in a Double-entry bookkeeping syst ...

'', and ''

Ecological Applications The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

''). Hutchings was the co-founder and president of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution from 2012 to 2014. In addition to being Chair of a 2012 Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on Marine Biodiversity (and member of a 2001 Expert Panel on genetically modified foods), he chaired Canada's national science body (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) responsible, by law, for advising the Canadian federal Minister of the Environment on species at risk of extinction. He was called to testify before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans on multiple occasions, including in December 1997, March 2012, as well as May and October 2016. He also gave evidence before the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in May 2009. He discussed

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...

in Canada,

sustainable fishery A conventional idea of a sustainable fishery is that it is one that is harvested at a sustainable rate, where the fish population does not decline over time because of fishing practices. Sustainability in fisheries combines theoretical disciplines ...

, and the impact of climate change on this endeavour. Hutchings vigorously strived to keep science independent of politics, and was critical of efforts by the

Conservative government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Min ...

in 2012 that were broadly perceived as attempting to silence scientific views on climate change and fish conservation. He later applauded the subsequent

Liberal government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...

four years later for adding more scientific staff to the DFO. Hutchings died on January 30, 2022, at his home in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. His cause of death has not yet been disclosed. He was 63 years old.

Awards and honours

Hutchings was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Academy of Science) in September 2015. Two years later, he was awarded the international A.G. Huntsman Award for Excellence in the Marine Sciences. He was elected Fellow of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

in 2018.

Publications

Books

* Hutchings, J. A. (2021). ''A Primer of Life Histories: Ecology, Evolution, and Application''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. * Freedman, B., Hutchings, J. A., Gwynne, D. T., Smol, J. P., Suffling, R., Turkington, R., Walker, R. L., and D. Bazely. (2015). ''Ecology: A Canadian Context''. Nelson Education, Toronto. * Hutchings, J. A., Côté, I. M., Dodson, J. J., Fleming, I. A., Jennings, S., Mantua, N. J., Peterman, R. M., Riddell, B. E., Weaver, A. J., and VanderZwaag, D. L. (2012). ''Sustaining Canadian marine biodiversity: responding to the challenges posed by climate change, fisheries, and aquaculture''. Royal Society of Canada, Ottawa.

Journal articles (selected)

* Hutchings, J.A. 2000. Collapse and recovery of marine fishes. Nature 406: 882–885. * Crozier, L.G., and J.A. Hutchings. 2014. Plastic and evolutionary responses to climate change in fish. Evolutionary Applications 7: 68–87. * Neubauer, P., Jensen, O.P., Hutchings, J.A., and J.K. Baum. 2013. Resilience and recovery of overexploited marine populations. Science 340: 347–349. * Myers, R.A., Barrowman, N.J., Hutchings, J.A., and A.A. Rosenberg. 1995. Population dynamics of exploited fish stocks at low population levels. Science 269: 1106–1108. * Hutchings, J.A. 2015. Thresholds for impaired species recovery. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282: 20150654. * Kuparinen, A., and J.A. Hutchings. 2017. Genetic architecture of age at maturity can generate divergent and disruptive harvest-induced evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 372: 20160035. * Hutchings, J.A., and J.D. Reynolds. 2004. Marine fish population collapses: consequences for recovery and extinction risk. BioScience 54: 297–309. * Hutchings, J.A., Walters, C., and R.L. Haedrich. 1997. Is scientific inquiry incompatible with government information control? Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 54: 1198–1210. * Hutchings, J.A., and R.A. Myers. 1994. What can be learned from the collapse of a renewable resource? Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, of Newfoundland and Labrador. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 51: 2126–2146. * Hutchings, J.A., and R.A. Myers. 1994. The evolution of alternative mating strategies in variable environments. Evolutionary Ecology 8: 256–268. * Hutchings, J.A. 1993. Adaptive life histories effected by age-specific survival and growth rate. Ecology 74: 673–684. * Hutchings, J.A. 1991. Fitness consequences of variation in egg size and food abundance in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis. Evolution 45: 1162–1168.

References

External links

Dr. Jeffrey A. Hutchings
at Dalhousie University Department of Biology

at Canada's Aquatic Environments, University of Guelph {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchings, Jeffrey A. 1958 births 2022 deaths Canadian biologists Academic staff of Dalhousie University Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni People from Orillia University of Toronto alumni