Abstract
Non-random mortality associated with commercial and recreational fisheries have the potential to cause evolutionary changes in fish populations. Inland recreational fisheries offer unique opportunities for the study of fisheries induced evolution due to the ability to replicate study systems, limited gene flow among populations, and the existence of unexploited reference populations. Experimental research has demonstrated that angling vulnerability is heritable in Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, and is correlated with elevated resting metabolic rates (RMR) and higher fitness. However, whether such differences are present in wild populations is unclear. This study sought to quantify differences in RMR among replicated exploited and unexploited populations of Largemouth Bass. We collected age-0 Largemouth Bass from two Connecticut drinking water reservoirs unexploited by anglers for almost a century, and two exploited lakes, then transported and reared them in the same pond. Field RMR of individuals from each population was quantified using intermittent-flow respirometry. Individuals from unexploited reservoirs had a significantly higher mean RMR (6%) than individuals from exploited populations. These findings are consistent with expectations derived from artificial selection by angling on Largemouth Bass, suggesting that recreational angling may act as an evolutionary force influencing the metabolic rates of fishes in the wild. Reduced RMR as a result of fisheries induced evolution may have ecosystem level effects on energy demand, and be common in exploited recreational populations globally.
Highlights
Recreational fishing is popular world-wide, accounting for an estimated 12% of global fish harvest [1,2,3,4]
Non-random mortality associated with commercial and recreational fisheries can produce selective responses in targeted populations, a phenomenon known as fisheries induced evolution (FIE)
Our study provides insight into whether or not FIE may be occurring in wild populations and what magnitude of change might be expected in extant recreational fisheries
Summary
Recreational fishing is popular world-wide, accounting for an estimated 12% of global fish harvest [1,2,3,4]. Recreational fisheries have the capacity to interact with exploited populations in both similar and different ways than commercial fisheries [2]. Recreational anglers likely have more capacity to adapt terminal tackle and presentation methods to target particular sizes of fish or to intercept particular life history stages than is common in commercial fisheries. These aspects of recreational fisheries have been shown to select for behavioral phenotypes and their underlying physiological drivers [11,12,13] as well as morphological traits such as body shape [14]. Non-random mortality associated with commercial and recreational fisheries can produce selective responses in targeted populations, a phenomenon known as fisheries induced evolution (FIE)
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