Evidence of indiscriminate fishing effects in one of the world’s largest inland fisheries

Abstract While human impacts like fishing have altered marine food web composition and body size, the status of the world’s important tropical inland fisheries remains largely unknown. Here, we look for signatures of human impacts on the indiscriminately fished Tonle Sap fish community that supports...

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Autores principales: Peng Bun Ngor, Kevin S. McCann, Gaël Grenouillet, Nam So, Bailey C. McMeans, Evan Fraser, Sovan Lek
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2018
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/c00534b26cde4f3ca46a1b212ab63c7d
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:c00534b26cde4f3ca46a1b212ab63c7d2021-12-02T15:08:37ZEvidence of indiscriminate fishing effects in one of the world’s largest inland fisheries10.1038/s41598-018-27340-12045-2322https://doaj.org/article/c00534b26cde4f3ca46a1b212ab63c7d2018-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27340-1https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract While human impacts like fishing have altered marine food web composition and body size, the status of the world’s important tropical inland fisheries remains largely unknown. Here, we look for signatures of human impacts on the indiscriminately fished Tonle Sap fish community that supports one of the world’s largest freshwater fisheries. By analyzing a 15-year time-series (2000–2015) of fish catches for 116 species obtained from an industrial-scale ‘Dai’ fishery, we find: (i) 78% of the species exhibited decreasing catches through time; (ii) downward trends in catches occurred primarily in medium to large-bodied species that tend to occupy high trophic levels; (iii) a relatively stable or increasing trend in catches of small-sized species, and; (iv) a decrease in the individual fish weights and lengths for several common species. Because total biomass of the catch has remained remarkably resilient over the last 15 years, the increase in catch of smaller species has compensated for declines in larger species. Our finding of sustained production but altered community composition is consistent with predictions from recent indiscriminate theory, and gives a warning signal to fisheries managers and conservationists that the species-rich Tonle Sap is being affected by heavy indiscriminate fishing pressure.Peng Bun NgorKevin S. McCannGaël GrenouilletNam SoBailey C. McMeansEvan FraserSovan LekNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2018)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Peng Bun Ngor
Kevin S. McCann
Gaël Grenouillet
Nam So
Bailey C. McMeans
Evan Fraser
Sovan Lek
Evidence of indiscriminate fishing effects in one of the world’s largest inland fisheries
description Abstract While human impacts like fishing have altered marine food web composition and body size, the status of the world’s important tropical inland fisheries remains largely unknown. Here, we look for signatures of human impacts on the indiscriminately fished Tonle Sap fish community that supports one of the world’s largest freshwater fisheries. By analyzing a 15-year time-series (2000–2015) of fish catches for 116 species obtained from an industrial-scale ‘Dai’ fishery, we find: (i) 78% of the species exhibited decreasing catches through time; (ii) downward trends in catches occurred primarily in medium to large-bodied species that tend to occupy high trophic levels; (iii) a relatively stable or increasing trend in catches of small-sized species, and; (iv) a decrease in the individual fish weights and lengths for several common species. Because total biomass of the catch has remained remarkably resilient over the last 15 years, the increase in catch of smaller species has compensated for declines in larger species. Our finding of sustained production but altered community composition is consistent with predictions from recent indiscriminate theory, and gives a warning signal to fisheries managers and conservationists that the species-rich Tonle Sap is being affected by heavy indiscriminate fishing pressure.
format article
author Peng Bun Ngor
Kevin S. McCann
Gaël Grenouillet
Nam So
Bailey C. McMeans
Evan Fraser
Sovan Lek
author_facet Peng Bun Ngor
Kevin S. McCann
Gaël Grenouillet
Nam So
Bailey C. McMeans
Evan Fraser
Sovan Lek
author_sort Peng Bun Ngor
title Evidence of indiscriminate fishing effects in one of the world’s largest inland fisheries
title_short Evidence of indiscriminate fishing effects in one of the world’s largest inland fisheries
title_full Evidence of indiscriminate fishing effects in one of the world’s largest inland fisheries
title_fullStr Evidence of indiscriminate fishing effects in one of the world’s largest inland fisheries
title_full_unstemmed Evidence of indiscriminate fishing effects in one of the world’s largest inland fisheries
title_sort evidence of indiscriminate fishing effects in one of the world’s largest inland fisheries
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2018
url https://doaj.org/article/c00534b26cde4f3ca46a1b212ab63c7d
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