Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES
Volume 66, Issue 6, Pages 896-908Publisher
CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1139/F09-047
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Funding
- National Science Foundation's BioComplexity program
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Pacific Seafood Processors Association
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Conspecific salmonid populations often differ in age and body size at maturity, and these differences can cause fishery exploitation rates and patterns of directional selection on size to vary among populations. Based on age and length data on five representative spawning populations of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the Wood River system, Bristol Bay, Alaska, USA, we estimated exploitation rates and population-specific patterns of selection from a gillnet fishery between 1963 and 2007. Exploitation rates have differed among age groups and have varied greatly over time, likely due to changes in fishery selectivity. Populations with older, larger fish were more heavily exploited than populations with small, young fish. Differential fishery selection was detected among the populations, linked to persistent differences in size and age of fish among the populations. Specifically, we found evidence of stronger size selectivity on populations with smaller-bodied fish and less directional selection on populations dominated by larger-bodied fish. These results reveal the complex variation in the intensity and selectivity of fishing that can result from exploitation of populations that differ in age and size at maturity and shape. Evolutionary responses to this selection may be taking place, but natural processes provide countervailing selection.
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