This overview on tropical Asian reservoir fisheries was prompted by issues raised in "Tropical reservoir fisheries: a preliminary analysis." Considerably different but building upon the above preliminary study, the present review emphasizes the theoretical concepts of trophic relations in harvesting and managing multispecies fisheries, integrated within a whole ecosystem perspective. This was made possible by an insight into the ecosystem dynamics and stability in tropical Asian reservoirs, especially lowland reservoirs with recruitment potential from adjacent inundated swamps.