The Impact of Catch-and-Release Angling on the Reproductive Success of Smallmouth Bass and Largemouth Bass

Philipp, David P.; Toline, C. Anna; Kubacki, Mark F.; Philipp, David; Phelan, Frank J. S.

doi:10.1577/1548-8675(1997)017<0557:tiocar>2.3.co;2

Cited by 138 publications

(252 citation statements)

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“…As a result, largemouth bass populations subjected to angling harvest during the nesting phase can experience the selective removal of those individuals with the greatest potential for high reproductive success. Even in the absence of harvest, any temporary removal (e.g., an angling event in a catchand-release fishery) could mean a loss of at least some fitness to egg predators (23,24). As a result, in response to either harvest or catch-and-release angling, fish in exploited largemouth bass populations would generally be expected to evolve traits that reduce their exposure to fishing gear (i.e., behavioral and physiological characteristics similar to those observed for LV fish).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each of the six ponds also received ∼500 immature bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) to serve as both potential egg predators and forage (23,24,33 After stocking of all fish, ponds were snorkeled every day for 6 wk beginning April 20, 2009, to locate males on nests and to identify the start of parental care (defined as the first day that a male largemouth bass was observed with eggs in his nest). To reduce disturbance to nest guarding fish, egg numbers were quantified by digitizing a method previously described for smallmouth and largemouth bass (40,41).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

“…Nesting male largemouth bass provide extended parental care for several weeks, defending eggs and fry against potential egg predators, which makes them particularly vulnerable to angling during the reproductive period (23,24). This is important because nest defense behavior of males during parental care has been found to be critical for brood survival (24,25). In addition, although it has been proposed that fisheries-induced selection in recreational angling operates more directly on behavioral and underlying physiological traits than on body size (17), it is most likely that both body size and the type and degree of male parental care behavior are involved in determining the fitness of individual males (13).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…It is also likely that the most aggressive males provide the most intensive parental care and as a result are the most vulnerable to fishing during the nesting period (23). This would, independent of individual size, result in the potentially most reproductively fit individuals facing the greatest likelihood of capture and subsequent death or in the case of catchand-release fisheries loss of fitness due to loss of all or some of their brood to egg predators (23)(24)(25).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Recreational fishing selectively captures individuals with the highest fitness potential

Sutter

Suski

Philipp

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Fisheries-induced evolution and its impact on the productivity of exploited fish stocks remains a highly contested research topic in applied fish evolution and fisheries science. Although many quantitative models assume that larger, more fecund fish are preferentially removed by fishing, there is no empirical evidence describing the relationship between vulnerability to capture and individual reproductive fitness in the wild. Using males from two lines of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) selectively bred over three generations for either high (HV) or low (LV) vulnerability to angling as a model system, we show that the trait "vulnerability to angling" positively correlates with aggression, intensity of parental care, and reproductive fitness. The difference in reproductive fitness between HV and LV fish was particularly evident among larger males, which are also the preferred mating partners of females. Our study constitutes experimental evidence that recreational angling selectively captures individuals with the highest potential for reproductive fitness. Our study further suggests that selective removal of the fittest individuals likely occurs in many fisheries that target species engaged in parental care. As a result, depending on the ecological context, angling-induced selection may have negative consequences for recruitment within wild populations of largemouth bass and possibly other exploited species in which behavioral patterns that determine fitness, such as aggression or parental care, also affect their vulnerability to fishing gear.ize-selective fishing, or even just an elevated level of fishing mortality, has the potential to induce rapid evolutionary change in a range of production-related traits in fish populations (1, 2). Theoretically predicted and empirically supported fisheriesinduced adaptive change involves the modification of life history traits, including reductions in age-and size-at-maturation, increases in reproductive investment, and changes in pre-and/or postmaturation growth rates (1-3). Changes in life history traits in response to fishing often collectively reduce adult size-at-age and fisheries yield and result in fish populations that only slowly rebound from overexploited states (4-7). There is little consensus, however, concerning the prevalence of fisheries-induced evolution and its relevance to management (1,(8)(9)(10). Perspectives range from calls for "evolutionarily enlightened management" (11) to positions that argue that evolutionary change induced by fishing is slow, thereby rendering it largely unimportant to fisheries management (9).One important tool to predict long-term population-level consequences of fisheries-induced evolution involves the construction and analysis of individual-based models (5, 12) or more simplified stage or age/size-structured (7) population models. Suitable models to study the potential for fisheries-induced evolution include ecological feedbacks resulting in density-and frequencydependent selection that shapes fitness landscapes and ev...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%