Exploring individual and population eco-evolutionary feedbacks under the coupled effects of fishing and predation
Intensive fishing that selects for large and old individuals can have pervasive effects on traits directly associated with the fecundity and survival of the target species. The observed reduction in fish body size can result in earlier sexual maturity at a smaller body size, leading to a lower individual reproductive output and population productivity in the long term. In addition, increased predation can induce similar responses in age and size at maturity due to the release of intraspecific competition and the lower population density. Thus, the combined impact of fisheries and predation is more difficult to predict due to their competition for fish, ultimately limiting and directing the …
Competition between marine mammals and fisheries in contemporary harvested marine ecosystems
Competitive interactions between marine mammals and fisheries represent some of the most complex challenges in marine resource management worldwide. The development of commercial fisheries and recovering marine mammal populations have contributed to a decrease in fish availability. Whilst ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) can counteract this decrease, achieving the EBFM objectives faces certain major obstacles including insufficient or unreliable data, inapplicable assessment models, as well as inadequate management decisions that do not account for fisheries-induced morphological alterations (FIMA) and marine mammal management. Despite a body of evidence addressing various aspect…