"We're trying to capture what happens from the very bottom of the food chain to the very top and look at the dynamics throughout the ecosystem, " said Mackinson.
Experience with other fisheries, such as the collapse of the cod population of the Grand Banks off Newfoundland in 1992, has shown that the dynamics of an ecosystem can change when a top predator is removed completely.
To take another industry I am well acquainted with, the transformation of the media ecosystem, the supply and demand dynamics of professional writers have completely changed, leaving some writers poorer (and some richer).
These experiences typically involve assuming personal responsibility for the care of many sick patients, and requires a mastering of the complex organization and social dynamics of a modern hospital ecosystem.