Francis "Chris" Christy, a respected authority on international fish conservation and a deft fly fisherman, died June 19 in his home in Washington. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 82.
In 1965, Christy co-wrote a book that described some of the earliest warnings on the dangers of commercial overfishing. "The Common Wealth in Ocean Fisheries: Some Problems of Growth and Economic Allocation" suggested the possibility that entire populations and habitats could be devastated by overfishing, which in turn could cause the world industry to collapse.
Christy worked as a fisheries management expert and economist for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization from 1980 to 1989 in Rome. In that position, he advised developing countries such as Malaysia and the Republic of Maldives on building a successful fishing industry that would boost their economy but not hurt the overall fish population.