Eurasian perch, Perca fluviatilis, spatial behaviour determines vulnerability independent of angler skill in a whole-lake reality mining experiment

Abstract

To understand the determinants of angling vulnerability arising from the interplay of fish and angler behaviour, we tracked 33 large Eurasian perch, Perca fluviatilis, with fine-scale acoustic telemetry at a whole-lake scale while simultaneously tracking boats of small groups of experimental anglers (n = 104) who varied by self-reported skill. We report two key findings. First, perch vulnerability was strongly related to a repeatable habitat choice behaviour, but unrelated to swimming activity as a personality trait; importantly, highly vulnerable perch were captured throughout the lake and not only in their preferred habitat, suggesting covariance between spatial habitat choice and a behavioural determinant of vulnerability. Second, catch per unit effort of large perch increased with self-reported angling skill, an effect unrelated to skill-dependent lure use or an angler’s ability to encounter perch. Importantly, high-skill anglers captured more fish but not different spatial behavioural phenotypes. Our study has implications for designing protected areas by showcasing that angling could systematically alter the habitat use of exploited populations at whole-ecosystem scales, without necessarily changing average swimming activity and home range extension.

Toward a mechanistic understanding of vulnerability to hook‐and‐line fishing: Boldness as the basic target of angling‐induced selection

“…In conclusion, our study is among the first in fishes to mechanistically show that selection on juvenile growth rate can happen as an indirect response to direct selection on behavior. Moreover, our work joins other recent findings (Alós et al., ) showing that behavioral traits might be under very strong selection in passively operated angling fisheries, but there is the caveat that a recent study by Monk and Arlinghaus () failed to document selection on feed patch use in the wild. We further found support for the productivity‐personality hypothesis (Biro & Stamps, ; Stamps, ), which predicts that boldness‐related behavior can be directly linked to resource acquisition and growth in omnivorous carp.…”

“…(). Our study joins other recent work emphasizing the importance of behavior in the context of fishing‐induced selection with passive gear types (e.g., Olsen et al., ; Alós et al., , ; Alós, Palmer, Trias, et al, ; Tsuboi et al., ; Arlinghaus et al., ; Diaz Pauli & Sih, ; Monk & Arlinghaus, ,b; Lennox et al., ) but is novel insofar as it reveals the relative importance of behavioral selection in comparison with other morphological and life history traits under semi‐natural conditions in free‐ranging fishes. Our work supports recent field studies who also revealed that total length was irrelevant in terms of contribution to individual variation in vulnerability to angling in a small‐bodied coastal fish species (Alós et al., ) and also in common carp under natural conditions (Monk & Arlinghaus, ).…”

“…Although strong selection pressures acting on behavioral traits in recreational fisheries are supported by theoretical arguments and simulation models (Alós et al., ; Andersen, Marty, & Arlinghaus, ; Enberg et al., ; Uusi‐Heikkilä et al., ), few experimental studies on this topic exist so far. The majority of these support the assumption of positive correlations between exploration, habitat choice behavior, activity, aggression, boldness and intensity of parental care, and vulnerability to hook‐and‐line fisheries (Alós, Palmer, Rosselló, & Arlinghaus, ; Alós, Palmer, Trias, Díaz‐Gil, & Arlinghaus, ; Härkönen, Hyvärinen, Niemelä, & Vainikka, ; Härkönen, Hyvärinen, Paappanen, & Vainikka, ; Klefoth, Skov, Krause, & Arlinghaus, ; Monk & Arlinghaus, ; Sutter et al., ; Wilson, Brownscombe, Sullivan, Jain‐Schlaepfer, & Cooke, ). Following the timidity syndrome hypothesis recently put forward by Arlinghaus et al.…”

Fine‐scale movement ecology of a freshwater top predator, Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis), in response to the abiotic environment over the course of a year

“…Our results suggest that changes in abiotic environments moderate foraging behaviour of a top aquatic predator, potentially altering the strength of intraspecific competition for food. The elevated activity with rising temperature may also increase encounter rates with fishing gears, and consequently, vulnerability to fishing (Monk & Arlinghaus, 2017). The elevated activity with rising temperature may also increase encounter rates with fishing gears, and consequently, vulnerability to fishing (Monk & Arlinghaus, 2017).…”

Investigating three sources of bias in hook-and-line surveys: survey design, gear saturation, and multispecies interactions

“…Self-reportedly skilled anglers catch more fish in a lake system (Monk and Arlinghaus 2018), and this skill likely translates to marine systems. Additionally, successive surveys could lead to avoidance behavior, and vessels might have individual fishing styles that could bias results.…”