Abstract
Both theoretical and experimental studies have shown that fishing mortality can induce adaptive responses in body growth rates of fishes in the opposite direction of natural selection. We compared body growth rates in European eel (Anguilla anguilla) from three Mediterranean stocks subject to different fishing pressure. Results are consistent with the hypotheses that i) fast-growing individuals are more likely to survive until sexual maturity than slow-growing ones under natural conditions (no fishing) and ii) fishing can select for slow-growing individuals by removing fast-growing ones. Although the possibility of human-induced evolution seems remote for a panmictic species like such as the European eel, further research is desirable to assess the implications of the intensive exploitation on this critically endangered fish.
Highlights
Fast body growth is traditionally interpreted as a beneficial trait in fish, according to the belief that ‘‘faster is better’’ (e.g. [1])
Natural mortality rates are negatively linked to body size via allometric relationships (e.g. [2,3]), and rapid body growth shortens the duration of the permanence of fish in the most vulnerable size classes before reproduction
A decline in average body growth rate has been predicted as a likely response to selective removal of fast-growing individuals by fisheries [5]
Summary
Fast body growth is traditionally interpreted as a beneficial trait in fish, according to the belief that ‘‘faster is better’’ (e.g. [1]). Fast body growth is traditionally interpreted as a beneficial trait in fish, according to the belief that ‘‘faster is better’’ The ‘‘faster is better’’ hypothesis has been challenged by recent studies showing that body growth itself has a physiological trade-off with other vital rates [4]. Fishing mortality can largely exceed natural mortality and has a strong size-selective effect, as most fisheries preferentially target larger and/or faster growing individuals [5]. Fishing can induce adaptive responses, intended to increase fitness, in body growth rates, resulting from changes in gene frequency across generations (adaptive evolution) or from changes in phenotypic distribution over time, without genetic change (adaptive plasticity). A decline in average body growth rate has been predicted as a likely response to selective removal of fast-growing individuals by fisheries [5]
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