The economic cost to future generations of degrading the environment must be included as part of the cost of doing business today, says a father-daughter research team. In the most recent issue of the journal Environmental Biology of Fishes, Peter Moyle, a UC Davis fish ecologist, and Petrea Moyle, a research associate at the Natural Heritage Institute in San Francisco, sum up some of the major economic arguments that can be used to justify protection of fishes -- especially endangered species -- and aquatic habitats. The article addresses a relatively new field known as ecological economics. This field provides a way to approach natural resource conflicts that recognizes the value of environmental preservation as well as the need for economic development. "A lot of people have a hard time seeing beyond their own lifetimes or their children's," Petrea Moyle says. "We need to sustain our natural resource base for future generations. If resources are managed right, we can preserve species and still have economic growth." The rise of ecologically based economics provides hope for the future, the authors say.