Passive gear‐induced timidity syndrome in wild fish populations and its potential ecological and managerial implications |
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| Authors: | Robert Arlinghaus Kate L Laskowski Josep Alós Thomas Klefoth Christopher T Monk Shinnosuke Nakayama Arne Schröder |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz‐Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany;2. Division of Integrative Fisheries Management, Department of Crop and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Life Science, Humboldt‐Universit?t zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany;3. Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados, IMEDEA (CSIC‐UIB), Esporles, Illes Balears, Spain;4. Angler Association of Lower Saxony, Hannover, Germany |
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| Abstract: | Human exploitation of wild‐living animals has been suggested to create a ‘landscape of fear’. A consequence could be that individuals surviving intensive harvesting, either as a result of behavioural plasticity and/or evolutionary change, exhibit increased average timidity. In the aquatic world, such effects are particularly well documented in passively operated fishing gears common to many commercial and recreational fisheries, such as angling, trapping or gill netting. We thus propose that an exploitation‐induced timidity syndrome should be a widespread pattern in fisheries. Importantly, we argue that the syndrome can be associated with several ecological and managerial consequences for social groups, populations, food webs, fisheries and assessment of stocks. We suggest research priorities to deepen our understanding of how exploited fish populations behaviourally respond to harvesting. |
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| Keywords: | Behavioural change fisheries‐induced evolution gill net hyperdepletion learning trapping trophic cascades |
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