title: Evolutionary consequences of fishing and their implications for salmon.
abstract: We review the evidence for fisheries-induced evolution in anadromous salmonids. Salmon are exposed to a variety of fishing gears and intensities as immature or maturing individuals. We evaluate the evidence that fishing is causing evolutionary changes to traits including body size, migration timing and age of maturation, and we discuss the implications for fisheries and conservation. Few studies have fully evaluated the ingredients of fisheries-induced evolution: selection intensity, genetic variability, correlation among traits under selection, and response to selection. Most studies are limited in their ability to separate genetic responses from phenotypic plasticity, and environmental change complicates interpretation. However, strong evidence for selection intensity and for genetic variability in salmon fitness traits indicates that fishing can cause detectable evolution within ten or fewer generations. Evolutionary issues are therefore meaningful considerations in salmon fishery management. Evolutionary biologists have rarely been involved in the development of salmon fishing policy, yet evolutionary biology is relevant to the long-term success of fisheries. Future management might consider fishing policy to (i) allow experimental testing of evolutionary responses to exploitation and (ii) improve the long-term sustainability of the fishery by mitigating unfavorable evolutionary responses to fishing. We provide suggestions for how this might be done.
authors.affiliation: Conservation Biology Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hard
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Mart R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Bergen Bergen, Norway ; Institute of Marine Research Bergen, Norway ; Evolution and Ecology Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) Laxenburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Mikko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heino
authors.affiliation: School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hilborn
authors.affiliation: Conservation Biology Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Kope
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of York York, UK.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Law
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University Burnaby, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Reynolds
keywords: adaptation; fitness; heritability; life history; reaction norm; selection; size-selective mortality; sustainable fisheries