Beyond those arguments, fisheries experts say, is another, possibly greater, ecological collision, not far away.

And as some fisheries experts have pointed out, the goal of managing to achieve 40 percent of a fish population's historical biomass is based in part on speculation.

Blue Ocean Institute is staffed by research scientists, writers and fisheries experts.

Jane Lubchenco, a fisheries expert at Oregon State University who had no connection with the work, called the report "compelling."

But in some cases, other fisheries experts say, the proposals could have the opposite effect.

Several fisheries experts said that in the countries where the disease was most established, close surveillance had prevented large outbreaks.

All that fisheries experts can currently do to try to insure that bluefish populations don't crash is to limit man's harvest of the species.

Last month, a group of fisheries experts from the international commission met in Fukuoka, Japan, to ponder alternative systems for managing the shared resource.

Gareth Porter, a fisheries expert for the World Wildlife Fund, has estimated overcapacity at almost 150 percent.

Many fisheries experts, on the other hand, scoff at such fears in the case of the wide-ranging, super-fertile bony fishes like tunas.