Background
Holt, Sidney Joseph was born on February 28, 1926 in London. Son of Sidney and Ethel Maud (Fryatt) Holt.
environmentalist consultant marine biologist
Holt, Sidney Joseph was born on February 28, 1926 in London. Son of Sidney and Ethel Maud (Fryatt) Holt.
University of Reading, United Kingdom, 1943-1947, Bachelor of Science, 1964, Doctor of Science Zoology. Spoken languages: English, French, Italian.
He is best known for the book On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations which he published with Ray Beverton in 1957. The book is a cornerstone of modern fisheries science and remains much used today. Holt served with the Food and Agriculture Organization in 1953 and with other United Nations agencies for another 25 years.
After his retirement in 1979, Holt has remained active in work related to the International Whaling Commission and conservation of whales in general, also publishing his views about whaling and fisheries management in academic journals.
Holt worked on the International Whaling Commission"s panel termed The Committee of Three that found new methods to calculate whaling quotas. The group analyzed whaling data (catches, the number of whaling boats etc) to come up with proposals for annual quotas for whales.
The panel"s report, in 1961, was the international whaling commission"s first attempt to come up with quotas that would permit whaling while allowing the whale population to increase. The three scientists on the panel (Kenneth Radway Allen, Douglas G Chapman and Holt) were selected because they specialized in fisheries research but were not officially connected with Norway, the Soviet Union, the Netherlands, Japan or Britain, the countries conducting the whaling they were to study.
The quotas recommended were so much lower than usual that the whaling countries argued over them for many years but eventually they had to lower the quotas.
However the whaling countries first adopted interim, compromise quotas which were higher than recommended.
Advisory Third Millennium Foundation. Member of Indiana World Commission Oceans (Soares commission 1995—2001), International League Protection Cetaceans (founder, Chief Executive Officer since 1981).
Children: Timothy Sidney, Nicholas William, David George.