Using vitality indicators to predict survival of aquatic animals released from fisheries.

Estimating the survival probability of animals released from fisheries can improve the overall understanding of animal biology with implications for fisheries management, conservation and animal welfare. Vitality indicators are simple visual measures of animal condition that change in response to stressors (like fisheries capture) and can be assessed to predict post-release survival. These indicators typically include immediate reflex responses which are typically combined into a score. Vitality indicators are straight-forward and non-invasive metrics that allow users to quantify how close (or far) an animal is from a normal, 'healthy' or baseline state, which in turn can be correlated with outcomes such as survival probability, given appropriate calibration. The literature on using vitality indicators to predict post-release survival of animals has grown rapidly over the past decade. We identified 136 papers that used vitality indicators in a fisheries context. These studies were primarily focused on marine and freshwater fishes, with a few examples using herptiles and crustaceans. The types of vitality indicators are diverse and sometimes taxa-specific (e.g. pinching leg of turtles, spraying water at nictitating membrane of sharks) with the most commonly used indicators being those that assess escape response or righting response given the vulnerability of animals when those reflexes are impaired. By presenting Pacific salmon fisheries as a case study, we propose a framework for using vitality indicators to predict survival across taxa and fisheries.

A field test of the use of pop-off data storage tags in freshwater fishes.

In the present study, pop-off data storage tags (pDST) without any transmitting capabilities were attached to 118 adult salmonids in a 19 000 km2 freshwater system (Lake Ontario). The 9·3 cm long cylindrical tags were externally attached to fishes using a backpack-style harness, set to record pressure (dBar ≈ depth in m) and temperature every 70 s (and at some key times, every 5 s) and programmed to release from the harness and float to the surface after c. 1 year. Recapture of the bright-orange tags for data retrieval relied on members of the public finding tags on shore, or on anglers capturing fishes with tags attached and using the contact information displayed on each tag to mail tags to the research team in exchange for a monetary reward. Thirty-seven tags were found and returned from the 118 released (31%), while 26 of the 118 tags (22%) remained scheduled to pop-off in summer 2017. Of the 37 tags returned, 23 were from wild-caught fishes (out of 88 wild-caught and tagged fishes; 26%) and yielded useful data whereas 14 were from hatchery-reared fishes that were opportunistically tagged and appear to have been unable to acclimate to life in the wild and died days to weeks after release. The field study described here thus demonstrated that pDSTs can be a viable option for collecting large amounts of high-resolution depth and temperature data for salmonids in freshwater systems. Technical challenges, limitations and unknowns related to the use of pDSTs with freshwater fishes are discussed. In addition, pDSTs are compared with alternate electronic tagging technologies and assessed for their potential as a more widespread tool in research on freshwater fishes.

Failure to engage the public in issues related to inland fishes and fisheries: strategies for building public and political will to promote meaningful conservation.

Generating awareness of environmental conservation issues among the public is essential if there is an expectation of them to alter their behaviour, facilitate informed decisions and engage governments or regulatory authorities to take action. There are, however, exceedingly few public engagement success stories related to inland fishes and fisheries policy and resource allocation decisions. Inland aquatic resources and their associated fisheries provide employment, recreation, culture and, in developing regions, a considerable proportion of human nutrition and food security. Freshwater fishes are incredibly diverse but are among the most endangered organisms globally. Many threats to inland fisheries are driven largely by externalities to inland fisheries. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the role and plight of inland fishes and fisheries, and the need to generate the public and political will necessary to promote meaningful conservation. With this paper, the extent to which the scientific and environmental management communities have failed to engage the public in issues related to inland fishes and fisheries is characterized. Next, the barriers or factors that serve as the basis for the problem with public engagement are identified. The paper concludes by identifying strategies, including those focused on environmental education initiatives, for building the public and political will necessary to promote meaningful conservation of inland fishes and fisheries in developed and developing countries. Scientists, environmental managers, non-governmental organizations, politicians, regulatory authorities and the media all have important roles to play in overcoming challenges to inland fisheries. Failure to engage the public in freshwater conservation and management issues will impede efforts to stem the loss of freshwater habitats, fisheries and aquatic biodiversity. Thankfully, there are opportunities to learn from success stories related to other environmental issues and initiatives that have been successful in marine fish conservation.

Population-specific consequences of fisheries-related stressors on adult sockeye salmon.

The objective of this study was to determine whether fisheries-related stressors differently influence two populations of adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) with shared migration timing and location but where one population (i.e., Harrison) spawns 1 mo after the other (i.e., Weaver). Four stressor treatments were used following beach seine capture: (1) immediate release, (2) release after 10-15 min in the beach seine, (3) an additional 3-min gill net entanglement and 1-min air exposure, and (4) an additional 3-min tangle net simulation and 1-min air exposure. A comprehensive acoustic telemetry array and manual tracking revealed that survival was low overall, with more Weaver fish (34.2% of 38 tagged) reaching spawning areas compared to Harrison fish (17.8% of 78 tagged). For the Harrison population but not the Weaver, the gill net treatment influenced immediate (i.e., survived treatment) and short-term (i.e., 5-d postrelease) survival as well as survival to reach spawning areas. Harrison fish were more likely to be injured by the treatment, and reflex impairment predicted their short-term and long-term survival. Physiological condition did not differ between populations at the time of release, although both populations showed signs of severe physiological disturbances from the gill and tangle net simulations. These results suggest that even short durations of gill or tangle net entanglement can result in profound population-specific physiological disturbances and mortality. The notion that there can be population-specific variation in response to fisheries encounters adds complexity to management and provides further evidence for intraspecific differences in migration success.