Short-term behavioural responses of Atlantic bluefin tuna to catch-and-release fishing

Haley R. Dolton; Andrew L. Jackson; Alan Drumm; Lucy Harding; Niall Ó Maoiléidigh; Hugo Maxwell; Ross O'Neill; Jonathan D.R. Houghton; Nicholas L. Payne

doi:10.1093/conphys/coac060

Short-term behavioural responses of Atlantic bluefin tuna to catch-and-release fishing

Haley R. Dolton^*, Andrew L. Jackson, Alan Drumm, Lucy Harding, Niall Ó Maoiléidigh, Hugo Maxwell, Ross O'Neill, Jonathan D.R. Houghton, Nicholas L. Payne

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Biological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Catch-and-release (C&R) angling is often touted as a sustainable form of ecotourism, yet the fine-scale behaviour and physiological responses of released fish is often unknown, especially for hard-to-study large pelagic species like Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT; Thunnus thunnus). Multi-channel sensors were deployed and recovered from 10 ABFTs in a simulated recreational C&R event off the west coast of Ireland. Data were recorded from 6 to 25 hours, with one ABFT (tuna X) potentially suffering mortality minutes after release. Almost all ABFTs (n = 9, including tuna X) immediately and rapidly (vertical speeds of ∼2.0 m s-1) made powered descents and used 50-60% of the available water column within 20 seconds, before commencing near-horizontal swimming ∼60 seconds post-release. Dominant tailbeat frequency was ∼50% higher in the initial hours post-release and appeared to stabilize at 0.8-1.0 Hz some 5-10 hours post-release. Results also suggest different short-term behavioural responses to noteworthy variations in capture and handling procedures (injury and reduced air exposure events). Our results highlight both the immediate and longer-term effects of C&R on ABFTs and that small variations in C&R protocols can influence physiological and behavioural responses of species like the commercially valuable and historically over-exploited ABFT.

Original language	English
Article number	coac060
Journal	Conservation Physiology
Volume	10
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coac060
Publication status	Published - 02 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding Research conducted by H.R.D in this publication was funded by the Irish Research Council under award number (GOIPG/2019/4197). A.L.J. was funded by the Irish Research Council grant (IRCLA/2017/186). L.H. and N.L.P. were supported by Science Foundation Ireland (18/SIRG/5549) and Marine Institute (SERV-18-FEAS-079, SERV-19-FEAS071 & SERV-20-FEAS-074b). A.D., N.O.M., H.M. and R.O.N. were funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund-Sustainable Fisheries Scheme A3: Innovation. (19.SF.A.03). Fieldwork was conducted under license from the Health Products Regulatory Authority of Ireland (#AE19136/P127).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physiology
Ecological Modelling
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Short-term behavioural responses of Atlantic bluefin tuna to catch-and-release fishing
Copyright 2022 the authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.
Final published version, 799 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Short-term behavioural responses of Atlantic bluefin tuna to catch-and-release fishing",

abstract = "Catch-and-release (C&R) angling is often touted as a sustainable form of ecotourism, yet the fine-scale behaviour and physiological responses of released fish is often unknown, especially for hard-to-study large pelagic species like Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT; Thunnus thunnus). Multi-channel sensors were deployed and recovered from 10 ABFTs in a simulated recreational C&R event off the west coast of Ireland. Data were recorded from 6 to 25 hours, with one ABFT (tuna X) potentially suffering mortality minutes after release. Almost all ABFTs (n = 9, including tuna X) immediately and rapidly (vertical speeds of ∼2.0 m s-1) made powered descents and used 50-60% of the available water column within 20 seconds, before commencing near-horizontal swimming ∼60 seconds post-release. Dominant tailbeat frequency was ∼50% higher in the initial hours post-release and appeared to stabilize at 0.8-1.0 Hz some 5-10 hours post-release. Results also suggest different short-term behavioural responses to noteworthy variations in capture and handling procedures (injury and reduced air exposure events). Our results highlight both the immediate and longer-term effects of C&R on ABFTs and that small variations in C&R protocols can influence physiological and behavioural responses of species like the commercially valuable and historically over-exploited ABFT. ",

author = "Dolton, {Haley R.} and Jackson, {Andrew L.} and Alan Drumm and Lucy Harding and {{\'O} Maoil{\'e}idigh}, Niall and Hugo Maxwell and Ross O'Neill and Houghton, {Jonathan D.R.} and Payne, {Nicholas L.}",

note = "Funding Information: Funding Research conducted by H.R.D in this publication was funded by the Irish Research Council under award number (GOIPG/2019/4197). A.L.J. was funded by the Irish Research Council grant (IRCLA/2017/186). L.H. and N.L.P. were supported by Science Foundation Ireland (18/SIRG/5549) and Marine Institute (SERV-18-FEAS-079, SERV-19-FEAS071 & SERV-20-FEAS-074b). A.D., N.O.M., H.M. and R.O.N. were funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund-Sustainable Fisheries Scheme A3: Innovation. (19.SF.A.03). Fieldwork was conducted under license from the Health Products Regulatory Authority of Ireland (#AE19136/P127). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology.",

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AU - Dolton, Haley R.

AU - Jackson, Andrew L.

AU - Drumm, Alan

AU - Harding, Lucy

AU - Ó Maoiléidigh, Niall

AU - Maxwell, Hugo

AU - O'Neill, Ross

AU - Houghton, Jonathan D.R.

AU - Payne, Nicholas L.

N1 - Funding Information: Funding Research conducted by H.R.D in this publication was funded by the Irish Research Council under award number (GOIPG/2019/4197). A.L.J. was funded by the Irish Research Council grant (IRCLA/2017/186). L.H. and N.L.P. were supported by Science Foundation Ireland (18/SIRG/5549) and Marine Institute (SERV-18-FEAS-079, SERV-19-FEAS071 & SERV-20-FEAS-074b). A.D., N.O.M., H.M. and R.O.N. were funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund-Sustainable Fisheries Scheme A3: Innovation. (19.SF.A.03). Fieldwork was conducted under license from the Health Products Regulatory Authority of Ireland (#AE19136/P127). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology.

PY - 2022/9/2

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N2 - Catch-and-release (C&R) angling is often touted as a sustainable form of ecotourism, yet the fine-scale behaviour and physiological responses of released fish is often unknown, especially for hard-to-study large pelagic species like Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT; Thunnus thunnus). Multi-channel sensors were deployed and recovered from 10 ABFTs in a simulated recreational C&R event off the west coast of Ireland. Data were recorded from 6 to 25 hours, with one ABFT (tuna X) potentially suffering mortality minutes after release. Almost all ABFTs (n = 9, including tuna X) immediately and rapidly (vertical speeds of ∼2.0 m s-1) made powered descents and used 50-60% of the available water column within 20 seconds, before commencing near-horizontal swimming ∼60 seconds post-release. Dominant tailbeat frequency was ∼50% higher in the initial hours post-release and appeared to stabilize at 0.8-1.0 Hz some 5-10 hours post-release. Results also suggest different short-term behavioural responses to noteworthy variations in capture and handling procedures (injury and reduced air exposure events). Our results highlight both the immediate and longer-term effects of C&R on ABFTs and that small variations in C&R protocols can influence physiological and behavioural responses of species like the commercially valuable and historically over-exploited ABFT.

AB - Catch-and-release (C&R) angling is often touted as a sustainable form of ecotourism, yet the fine-scale behaviour and physiological responses of released fish is often unknown, especially for hard-to-study large pelagic species like Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT; Thunnus thunnus). Multi-channel sensors were deployed and recovered from 10 ABFTs in a simulated recreational C&R event off the west coast of Ireland. Data were recorded from 6 to 25 hours, with one ABFT (tuna X) potentially suffering mortality minutes after release. Almost all ABFTs (n = 9, including tuna X) immediately and rapidly (vertical speeds of ∼2.0 m s-1) made powered descents and used 50-60% of the available water column within 20 seconds, before commencing near-horizontal swimming ∼60 seconds post-release. Dominant tailbeat frequency was ∼50% higher in the initial hours post-release and appeared to stabilize at 0.8-1.0 Hz some 5-10 hours post-release. Results also suggest different short-term behavioural responses to noteworthy variations in capture and handling procedures (injury and reduced air exposure events). Our results highlight both the immediate and longer-term effects of C&R on ABFTs and that small variations in C&R protocols can influence physiological and behavioural responses of species like the commercially valuable and historically over-exploited ABFT.

U2 - 10.1093/conphys/coac060

DO - 10.1093/conphys/coac060

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85144848511

SN - 2051-1434

VL - 10

JO - Conservation Physiology

JF - Conservation Physiology

IS - 1

M1 - coac060

ER -

Short-term behavioural responses of Atlantic bluefin tuna to catch-and-release fishing

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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