Effects of barotrauma and recompression events on subsequent embryo condition of yelloweye rockfish

Abstract

Catch-and-release fishing may adversely affect reproduction of rockfishes Sebastes spp. due to angling-induced barotrauma. Although yelloweye rockfish (S. ruberrimus) have been shown to be reproductively viable following these events, the energetic cost of recovery may negatively affect reproductive fitness through reduced embryo condition. In this study, female yelloweye rockfish from Prince William Sound, Alaska, were recaptured one to two years following their initial capture and recompression using a deepwater-release mechanism (DRM). Embryo composition from these fish was compared to the embryos from females with no previously known capture history to examine embryo oil globule volume (OGV), energy content, and percent lipid content. Capture history, maternal length and age, and developmental stage explained a high proportion of the variability in embryo OGV, but not energy or percent lipid content. For both groups of females, there were declines in OGV and energy content of embryos from early to late developmental stages. However, there were no differences in OGV and energy content between female groups for each embryo developmental stage and there were no differences in lipid content of embryos for either group between and among developmental stages. These results suggest that embryo condition was similar between females, regardless of capture history. As a result, DRM recompression seems to mitigate the negative effects of barotrauma on yelloweye rockfish embryo composition in subsequent spawning seasons.