F.M. (Fabian) Mollet: Evolutionary effects of fishing and implications for management

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7 May 2010 11:00
Unit: Wageningen University
Location: Aula, building 362, Gen. Foulkesweg 1, Wageningen
Organisation: Wageningen University
Promotor: Prof.dr. A.D. Rijnsdorp

 This PhD-thesis studies the evolutionary consequences of fishing and the possible undesirable effects for management. A new method using an energy allocation model is developed to study changes in growth, maturation and reproduction from individual growth trajectories measured from archived collections of earbones. Application of the method provided evidence for fisheries-induced evolution (FIE) in North Sea sole and plaice within a few decades. An eco-genetic model is developed to study the adaptive significance of sexual size dimorphism and to explore the implications of FIE for fisheries management. Sexual size dimorphism in flatfish is related to the lower reproductive investment in males. The biological reference points used to evaluate sustainable exploitation change along with the evolution of the population’s life history and become moving targets. Ignoring FIE may therefore lead to unsustainable management. Protecting larger fish could reverse the evolutionary trends and hence the negative evolutionary impact.

Title thesis: "Evolutionary effects of fishing and implications for sustainable management: a case study of North Sea plaice and sole"
More information of the research:
» http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/EEP/FishACE/
» http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/EEP/FinE/
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