Fisheries-induced evolution

Modern fisheries have drastically changed the level and size dependence of mortality faced by fish populations: commercial fishing usually targets medium-sized and large individuals, which often are reltively invulnerable to natural predators. Life-history theory predicts that fish adapt to these changs through evolutionary alterations in their life histories. Experiments and models predict that such fisheries-induced evolution is potentially fast: significant evolutionary adaptations may occur over time scales of just a few generations. A growing body of observational studies of wild fish populations is supporting this theoretical prediction. So far, fisheries-induced changes in maturation schedules are best documented, but several studies are also pointing to changes in growth and reproductive investment. Although fisheries-induced evolution can render fish populations more robust agaist high exploitation levels, uncontrolled fisheries-induced evolution is likely to reduce both the quality and the quantity of fisheries yields, calling for management strategies that can mitigate such undesirable effects.
KEYWORDS: Contemporary evolution; Exploitation; Fishing; Life-history theory; Natural resource management

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