CHAPTER SEVEN

APPLIED ECOLOGY OF FISHES

7.1 Introduction

Applied ecology is the study of the effects of man's actlVltIes on the

distribution and abundance of species of interest. In many cases, the effects
on fish populations are the incidental by-products of activities directed
by man towards other aims. In other cases, of which fishing is the most
obvious, the effects are a consequence of man's exploitation of fish
populations as a resource.
The key question in applied ecology is one that is sometimes strangely
overlooked: what is the effect of man's activities on the net reproductive
rate of the population, Ro (chapter 6)? If this value falls below 1, the
population declines, if it is equal to 1, the population remains numerically
stable over time and if it is greater than 1, the population increases. This
idea has been well-expressed by Caughley (1977). The management of
natural populations involves three problems: (i) the treatment of a small
or declining population to raise its density (conservation); (ii) the
exploitation of a population to take from it a sustained yield (harvesting);
and (iii) the treatment of a population that is too dense or that has an
unacceptably high rate of increase, to stabilize or reduce its density (pest
control).
The mean net reproductive rate of a population is a function of its birth
and death rates (chapter 6). In most fish populations, both death rates
and fecundity are size-dependent (chapters 3,6), and so growth rates are
also an important factor in determining the mean net reproductive rate.
Thus, a problem in applied ecology can be defined as determining the
effects of man's activities on the growth, mortality and fecundity rates of
the populations of interest and determining the necessary remedial actions
that will have their effect by changing one or more of these rates.
Complexities arise from the many factors that are involved in determining
the rates of mortality, fecundity and growth in natural populations. In

R. J. Wootton, Fish Ecology

© Chapman & Hall 1992
162 FISH ECOLOGY

aquaculture, some of these complexities are by-passed by maintaining the

exploited populations in simplified environments.

7.2 A classification of problems in applied ecology

With few exceptions, most of the problems of the applied ecology of fishes
can be dealt with under three headings: (i) the effects of environmental
degradation; (ii) the effects of fishing; and (iii) the effects of aquaculture.

7.2.1 Environmental degradation

This is identifiable if changes in the environment produced directly or
indirectly by man's activities cause the net reproductive rate of some or
all the fish populations to drop to below 1, with the consequent decline
in abundance. Several forms of environmental degradation can be
identified. There may be a detrimental change in the physical environment.
The chemical environment experienced by the fish may become
unfavourable. Organisms may be introduced into the environment that
cause declines in the abundance of the fish species already present. These
exotic organisms can be other fishes, or other animals including fish
parasites, plants or microbial pathogens.

7.2.2 Fishing
Fishing is an intentional activity, although the motivation for the fishery
may vary. Some fisheries are purely recreational. Subsistence and artisanal
fisheries provide food for the fishermen, their families and neighbours.
Commercial fisheries exploit fish populations primarily to make an
economic profit.
Where the yield taken by fishing is retained by fishermen, the inevitable
result is a reduction in the numerical abundance and biomass of the fished
population. Sustainable fisheries depend on exploited populations showing
density dependent changes in natural mortality, fecundity and growth,
which compensate for the losses to the fishery. A simple model for a fishery
assumes that, when not exploited, the fish population reaches the
maximum biomass that can be sustained by the environment over a long
period. At this maximum equilibrium biomass, B max , the birth, growth
and death rates just balance each other so that the biomass neither
increases nor declines (upper curve in Figure 7.1).