A study of Newfoundland's Grand Banks commercial fish assemblages reveals how uncertainty in ecological models thwarts reliable predictions of community dynamics. It exposes inherent limits in standard methods while highlighting the urgency for adaptive management strategies.

Gomes, a biologist, draws on a study of commercial fish assemblages on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland to illustrate how uncertainty about the structure of ecological models confounds attempts to predict community dynamics over time; concluding that new adaptive management strategies may be needed to deal with this inherent uncertainty.