Fish, Fact and Fantasy: a Long View

This paper suggests ways forward from the widely perceived present failures of fishery assessment and management. A history of fishery yield modelling is presented from the carefree days of the 1950s to the depressing series of stock collapses and depletions of the 1980s. Underlying this gruesome story has been the failure of management by quotas to arrest overcapacity in fishing power, the lack of robust and informative reference points and the inadequacy of methods dealing with some multispecies fisheries. The paper refines the use of the concept of Fext, defined as the minimum value of F in a self-regenerating yield model that leads to eventual extinction in a family of yield curves generated with a range of stock recruitment curves. Model reconstructions for North Sea cod and Icelandic herring make evident calamitous losses in catches forgone as result of the failure of rational management. An optimistic agenda that may achieve more effective fishery management in the future is presented. In some ways, we may have been trying to be too clever. A simple management system based on careful monitoring of fishing effort, biological targets such as F95, and exploitation of a diversity of fish resources may suffice to avert further disaster and hedge against uncertainty.     

Single Fish Egg DNA Extraction for PCR Amplification

Modern stock researches on marine biomass are basically genetic and rely increasingly on PCR-based manipulations of informative DNA markers for detecting the genetic diversity. This study developed a simple and rapid single tube method for DNA extraction from a single fish egg. The 15 min protocol was based on the use of Chelex 100 resin and urea to breakdown membrane and connective tissue of eggs. From various sizes of a single egg of walleye pollack (Theragra chalcogramma), the amounts of total nucleic acids were reproducibly obtained to be 18.25 ± 1.92 μg per egg. Using DNA templates diluted ranging 1/10⁰–1/10⁵, PCR amplification for the mitochondrial cytochrome b (Cytb) gene was successfully performed, and the 1/10² diluted template yielded the best result in PCR amplification for three different DNA marker genes. This method is quite simple and economical, and enables to provide the high throughput often demanded by the stock identification of marine biomass, in which large numbers of specimens of single fish eggs must be analyzed.     

Fish stock assessment in lakes based on mass removal

The efficiency of mass removal of fishes can potentially be assessed using catch statistics collected during intensive fishing periods. The calculations are based on the general assumption that a decline in population size will produce a decline in catch per unit effort (cpue). When the removal is efficient it is possible to estimate the population size both at the beginning of the fishing period and after the removal.
Two examples are based on the winter seine net fishing of vendace ( Coregonus albula ) in Lake Pyhäjärvi, SW Finland in (1) 1983–1984 and (2) 1989–1990. The effects of the error in catch composition samples and random changes in probabilities of capture during the removal period on the final estimates of initial stock sizes are also examined.
The precision of the population estimates shown here was greatly influenced by the violation of the underlying assumption that the probability of capture is equal for all members of the target age group. In any case, particular attention should be paid to optimizing the sampling programme so that it will reveal the best information on the exploited stock with the resources in hand.     

Fish density and size alter Pacific halibut feeding: implications for stock assessment

Laboratory experiments were conducted with Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis to test the hypothesis that responsiveness to food cues is density‐ and size‐ dependent. Tanks holding one, two and four fish were video‐taped continuously before and after introduction of an olfactory cue and whole baits (squid). Pre‐cue indices of activity did not vary with fish density. After olfactory stimulation, per capita activity was directly related to density, with no significant increase in activity by single fish. Numbers of baits located, attacked and consumed were directly related to fish density, and average times to first attack varied from 12 s in groups of four fish to >15 min in single fish. The latency period between location and attack decreased significantly with fish density. When large (43–55 cm, total length, L _T) and small (31–38 cm L _T) Pacific halibut were tested together in pairs and groups of four fish, small individuals located baits first in 61% of the trials. Large fish, however, consumed all of the baits (except one) in trials where both large and small fish responded. Social facilitation in Pacific halibut feeding will result in a non‐linear relationship between catch per unit effort and population density, and the size composition of fish captured may be influenced by interference competition.     

The Role of Fish Communities in Water Quality Management of a Large Shallow Lake

Management measures of Lake Balaton such as wetland reconstruction at the main inflow to the lake along with the “unplanned” commercial fishery led to great changes in the density and biomass of fish populations. There was no significant difference in CPUE data between the two, eastern and western, basins. Biomass of total fish stock in Lake Balaton has decreased substantially, 2–3 times between 1991–1999, and ranges between 120–194 kg ha⁻¹. Bottom‐up effects are more important than the top‐down effects due to the impact of internal nutrient load. Changes in the biomass and thus the activity of omnivorous fish in the lake lowered the intensity of various indirect effects and feedback mechanisms causing changes in the nutrient metabolism of the lake. Intensified fishery effort in Lake Balaton did not result in an increased stock of piscivores. The ratio of piscivores and omnivores remained at 5% during the whole study period. Despite this low piscivores to omnivores ratio, the water quality has improved in all basins.     

The use of fish in ecological assessments

Abstract Fish provide powerful tools for assessing aquatic environments. Three attributes are especially significant: the sensitivity of fish to most forms of human disturbance, their usefulness at all levels of biological organization and the favourable benefit-to-cost ratio offish assessment programmes. Fish can be used as indicators over wide temporal and spatial ranges. Because they cover all trophic levels of consumer ecology, fish can effectively integrate the whole range of ecological processes in waterways. Fish have been used in many different roles for assessing river health and monitoring responses to remedial management. Three of these applications appear to have particular value for management of Australian rivers: (i) automated systems monitoring fish ventilation can provide sensitive, broad-spectrum and continuous sensing of water quality to protect receiving waters or water-supply intakes; (ii) programmes collecting routine data on commercial or recreational fisheries can be designed and analysed so as to isolate confounding effects due to fishery-specific factors and, hence, used to detect and monitor environmental change on large scales; (iii) the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) can be modified to suit Australian conditions and fish communities to meet the important need for a predictive model of aquatic environmental quality. The IBI is a quantitative biological tool with a strong ecological foundation that integrates attributes from several levels of ecosystem organization. Examples of the use of IBI elsewhere suggest its robustness, flexibility and sensitivity can cope effectively with the low diversity of the Australian fish fauna and the dominance of ecological generalists. A provisional structure is suggested for a test of the IBI in four riverine regions of New South Wales.     

鱼蛋白粉的营养评价

对采用酶解法和酸水解法制备的白鲢鱼蛋白粉的营养成分进行了分析,从氨基酸组成上表明鱼蛋白粉具有较高的营养价值,在食品行业有较大应用前景。     

Development of a Fish Based Lake Typology for Natural Austrian Lakes >50 ha Based on the Reconstructed Historical Fish Communities

Based on the reconstructed native fish communities all natural Austrian lakes >50 ha (n = 43) were classified into four groups using cluster analysis methods. Sentinel species (i.e. species with highest discriminating value for lake types and characteristic for a specific lake group) and type specific fish species (accompanying species with additional value for characterising lake groups) were defined by a newly developed index and by similarity analysis. The first group included 16 lakes of high altitude, small surface area and low fish species number with arctic char as a sentinel species. The second group (n = 10) was characterized by intermediate altitude, large surface area and high maximum water depth with the minnow as sentinel species. The third group contained 14 lakes with low maximum water depths and a long retention time. For this group the bleak was found as a sentinel species. The lakes of the eastern part of Austria represented the last group (n = 3) and were characterized by low altitude and very shallow water depth with pike‐perch as a sentinel species. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Application of semi-quantitative electrofishing to juvenile salmonid stock surveys

A semi-quantitative electrofishing technique is described, which has applications for assessing distribution and densities of 0+ salmonids in streams. Linear regressions of logarithmically-transformed data satisfactorily described the relationship between numbers of 0+ Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar L.) and 0+ brown trout ( Salmo trutta L.) captured in a standard 5 min fishing and quantitative population estimates obtained using a commonly used method. Applications of the semi-quantitative technique to management are discussed and a categorization system proposed.     

Diel Migration and Spatial Distribution of Fish in a Small Stratified Lake

We used fishery surveys from 1954 to 1957 to determine the relationship between salinity and prairie stream-fish assemblage composition prior to the major drought of the 1950s and subsequent anthropogenic modifications. A total of 78,931 fishes were captured, representing 13 families and 44 species. Species were classified as having low, moderate, or high salinity tolerances based on k-means clustering of detrended correspondence scores. The proportion of species with high salinity tolerances was correlated positively (r = 0.74) with salinity, whereas the proportion of species with low (r = −0.69) or moderate (r = −0.36) tolerances was correlated strongly and negatively with salinity. Many of the low or moderate salinity tolerant species found in the 1950s were not collected in studies conducted 15 and 35 years later. Examination of these studies provides compelling evidence that salinity has been a dominant and persistent factor in affecting the structure of stream-fish assemblages for the past 50 years.     

白洋淀鱼类组成现状

目前白洋淀共有鱼类33种,隶属于7目12科30属,自然鱼类种群呈现低龄、小型化,经济鱼类人工养殖业发展较快,但应有计划地给予节制。本文对优势种之一白鲦鱼的生物学特性做了重点研究,总体情况不如1991年。结合近年来调查所得的资料,总结得出白洋淀鱼类种群组成的变化及影响其变化的环境因素,从而对白洋淀环境的保护与利用、白洋淀的鱼类资源的可持续发展提出建议。     

Relationship between freshwater angling catch of Atlantic salmon and stock size in the River Bush, Northern Ireland

Over 25 years rod catches of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar increased proportionately as stock size increased ( r ²=0·581, P <0·001), with no overall trend between exploitation rate and stock size ( r ²=0·016, P >0·5). On a 15 year sub-set of these data annual effort ( P =0·804) and flow ( P =0·339) had little significance relative to stock size ( P <0·01) on variation in rod catches. Stock size, time, effort and flows had no influence on inter-annual variation of rod exploitation rate ( r ²=0·094, P =0·880). Pairwise correlation between variables confirmed these results. In 1998, weekly effort contributed significantly to overall catch variation ( P <0·001), while weekly flow did not ( P =0·438). These results are discussed in relation to the utility of rod catch data for deriving estimates of stock for spawning target compliance purposes.     

江苏骆马湖湿地鱼类资源及其保护

新沂骆马湖湿地有鱼类80种,80％为鲤科鱼类。日本七鳃鳗可以迁移到黄海及江苏省淡水中。就骆马湖鱼类资源的保护和利用,提出几点建议。     

Fish in Reservoirs

In all reservoirs the fish fauna is recruited from their riverine antecedents. The nature of the riverine environment, created by its unstable hydrological regime, favours the evolution of generalist species. Of these species, only a few are preadapted to lacustrine conditions. When riverine fish communities are trapped in a reservoir, most of the fish stay close to the shore, the mouth of tributaries and in shallows. The pelagic and deep waters are poorly utilized and the yield of fish is below the natural productivity of these water bodies, especially in the case of deep and large reservoirs. This occurs unless the dammed river contains fish species from families which are preadapted for lacustrine conditions. A positive correlation between the percentage of pelagic fish and the total yield of fish in reservoirs indicates that the pelagial represents a vacant habitat, only seldom invaded by riverine species. This situation probably applies to the deep water of reservoirs too, although sufficient data to demonstrate this are not available. The littoral region of reservoirs is utilized by some generalists of euryoecious species derived from the indigenous riverine fauna which may be preadapted for lacustrine conditions. If such preadapted lacustrine species are not present, the introduction of lacustrine species or those preadapted for the lacustrine environment is desirable under certain circumstances. However, caution must be exercised in any introduction.     

Fish abundance and trophic structure from the commercial catch in Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico

The composition, abundance and trophic structure of the fish community in Lake Patzcuaro is analyzed, using data from eight samples taken from the commercial fishery acquired between August 1990 and April 1991. A total of 65 767 individuals, caught with gillnets selective to all fish and size, were analyzed. Eleven species (8 native and 3 exotic) were recorded during the study. Zooplanktivorous were the most representative species, amounting to 91% of the total number. Also, they were the most characteristic species (36.4%) when feeding habits were considered, followed by carnivore and omnivore (27.3% each), and herbivore (9.1%). Three species groups and three time-associated groups were detected by means of classification methods. Lake Patzcuaro's ichthyofauna is to be considered as a transitional community that has not reached equilibrium, particularly after the introduction of exotic species and local extinction of native species. However, Lake Patzcuaro has the greatest fishery production of all tropical lakes in the Central Plain of Mexico and it is mainly sustained by native species. The differential use of feeding resources by the fish species and the diversity in their habits must be taken into account to design strategies to maintain the fish structure (avoiding new introduction of exotic species) and the fish production in Lake Patzcuaro.     

Endocrine Toxicants and Reproductive Success in Fish

There is compelling evidence on a global scale for compromised growth and reproduction, altered development, and abnormal behaviour in feral fish that can be correlated or in some cases causally linked with exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Attributing cause and effect relationships for EDCs is a specific challenge for studies with feral fish as many factors including food availability, disease, competition and loss of habitat also affect reproduction and development. Even in cases where there are physiological responses of fish exposed to EDCs (e.g., changes in reproductive hormone titres, vitellogenin levels), the utility of these measures in extrapolating to whole animal reproductive or developmental outcomes is often limited. Although fish differ from other vertebrates in certain aspects of their endocrinology, there is little evidence that fish are more sensitive to the effects of EDCs. Therefore, to address why endocrine disruption seems so widespread in fish, it is necessary to consider aspects of fish physiology and their environment that may increase their exposure to EDCs. Dependence on aquatic respiration, strategies for iono-osmotic regulation, and maternal transfer of contaminants to eggs creates additional avenues by which fish are exposed to EDCs. This paper provides an overview of responses observed in feral fish populations that have been attributed to EDCs and illustrates many of the factors that need consideration in evaluating the risks posed by these chemicals.     

Biological Inspiration: From Carangiform Fish to Multi-Joint Robotic Fish

This paper presents a novel approach to modelling carangiform fish-like swimming motion for multi-joint robotic fish so that they can obtain fish-like behaviours and mimic the body motion of carangiform fish. A given body motion function of fish swimming is firstly converted to a tail motion function which describes the tail motion relative to the head. Then, the tail motion function is discretized into a series of tail postures over time. Thirdly, a digital approximation method calculates the taming angles of joints in the tail to approximate each tail posture; and finally, these angles are grouped into a look-up table, or re-gressed to a time-dependent function, for practically controlling the tail motors in a multi-joint robotic fish. The paper made three contributions: tail motion relative to the head, an error function for digital approximation and regressing a look-up table for online optimization. To prove the feasibility of the proposed methodology, two basic swimming motion patterns, cruise straight and C-shape sharp turning, are modelled and implemented in our robotic fish. The experimental results show that the relative tail motion and the approximation error function are good choices and the proposed method is feasible.     

Fish mortality and physicochemistry in a managed floodplain wetland

Patterns of fish mortality and associated physicochemical factors werestudied during late spring in a managed wetland canal along the lowerMissouri River, Missouri. Mean dawn dissolved oxygen was lower and meanun-ionized ammonia and turbidity were higher during the fish kill thanbefore or after the kill, or than was observed in a nearby wetland canalwhere no fish kill occurred. Dissolved oxygen at dawn and un-ionizedammonia concentrations were at critically low and high levels respectively,so that both likely contributed to the fish mortality. Timing and magnitudeof observed carcasses suggested that Ameiurus melas Rafinesques wasthe most tolerant species for the sizes observed compared to Ictiobuscyprinellus Valenciennes, Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, Cyprinus carpio Linneaus, and Lepomis cyanellus Rafinesque.Decreasing mean lengths of fish carcasses during the fish kill for C.carpio, L. cyanellus, and A. melas, indicate that smaller fishes mayhave been more tolerant of harsh environmental conditions than largerindividuals of the same species. Differential mortalities among species andsizes during drawdowns in actively managed wetland pools may haveintentional and unintentional ramifications on wetland and riverine fishcommunity structure, fish-avian interactions, and implementing anecosystem management perspective to restoring more naturalized riverfloodplain wetland functions. Late summer and early autumn draining ofmanaged wetlands might be used to benefit a wider diversity of wildlife andfishes.     

An Ecosystem Model for Exploring Lake Restoration Effects on Fish Communities and Fisheries in Florida

Developing quantitative ecosystem–scale expectations of habitat restoration projects and examining trade‐offs associated with alternative approaches has been a challenge for restoration ecology. Many of the largest freshwater lake restoration projects have occurred in Florida to remediate degradation to vegetated littoral habitats resulting from stabilized water levels, but effects across lake food‐webs have not been assessed. We developed an ecosystem model using Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace for a generalized large, eutrophic Florida Lake to explore how simulated restoration activities could influence fish communities with emphasis on sport fish abundance. We modeled three habitat restoration scenarios: (1) “no control,” (2) a “10‐year control” that restored littoral habitat every 10 years, and (3) a “combined control” scenario that restored littoral habitat every 10 years with maintenance controls between 10‐year periods. Our “combined control” scenario provided the largest long‐term habitat restoration benefits for sport fish abundance and the fisheries they support. In Ecospace, we simulated a littoral habitat restoration project that reduced lake‐wide tussock coverage from 30 to 15%. Ecospace predicted positive benefits to sport fish and fisheries following the restoration simulation and highlighted the importance of habitat edge effects, spatial design of habitat restoration projects, and sampling designs for evaluating restoration projects.