Does Angling Technique Selectively Target Fishes Based on Their Behavioural Type?

Abstract

Recently, there has been growing recognition that fish harvesting practices can have important impacts on the phenotypic distributions and diversity of natural populations through a phenomenon known as fisheries-induced evolution. Here we experimentally show that two common recreational angling techniques (active crank baits versus passive soft plastics) differentially target wild largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris) based on variation in their behavioural tendencies. Fish were first angled in the wild using both techniques and then brought back to the laboratory and tested for individual-level differences in common estimates of personality (refuge emergence, flight-initiation-distance, latency-to-recapture and with a net, and general activity) in an in-lake experimental arena. We found that different angling techniques appear to selectively target these species based on their boldness (as characterized by refuge emergence, a standard measure of boldness in fishes) but not other assays of personality. We also observed that body size was independently a significant predictor of personality in both species, though this varied between traits and species. Our results suggest a context-dependency for vulnerability to capture relative to behaviour in these fish species. Ascertaining the selective pressures angling practices exert on natural populations is an important area of fisheries research with significant implications for ecology, evolution, and resource management.