Overlooking capacity of large females may lead to overharvest.
Management of many of the largest fisheries in the world assumes incorrectly that many small fish reproduce as well as fewer large ones with similar total masses, a new analysis has found. That can lead to overharvesting the largest, most prolific fish that can contribute the most to the population.
Better protection of larger, mature females could improve the productivity of major fisheries. This is crucial at a time when fisheries are increasingly important in providing food resources around the world. The results were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week.
“It is a fundamental question in fisheries management—how much reproduction can you count on?” said Dustin Marshall of Monash University in Australia, lead author of the research. “When you are expecting smaller females to produce the same number of eggs per body mass as larger, older females, you’re not going to have an accurate picture.”
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