Robert J. Lennox

FISH Out of WATER: How Much Air is Too Much?

Exposing fish to air following capture influences postrelease survival and behavior. Air exposure causes acute hypoxia and physical damage to the gill lamellae, resulting in physiological stress and physical damage that increases with air exposure duration. Air exposure duration is a relevant and easily quantified metric for both fishers and managers and can therefore provide a definitive benchmark for improving postrelease survival. Yet, fishers are rarely provided with specific recommendations other than simply to “minimize” air exposure. This is a subjective recommendation, potentially causing confusion and noncompliance. Here we discuss and summarize the literature regarding air exposure thresholds in both commercial and recreational fisheries, the factors influencing these thresholds, and identify knowledge gaps limiting our understanding of tolerance to air exposure in captured fish.

State of the interface between conservation and physiology: a bibliometric analysis

A bibliometric analysis of contemporary peer-reviewed literature was used to examine the overlap between conservation and physiology. Although the term “conservation physiology” rarely appears in papers that combine the disciplines, they are indeed being integrated in recent years and we expect increased integration in the near future.

Conservation physiology of animal migration

Conservation physiology has great potential to help us understand how migratory animals interact with current and future anthropogenic threats. Migration is inherently challenging such that additional stressors derived from altered environments or interaction with human infrastructure or activities could lead to long-term changes to migratory phenotypes.

Envisioning the Future of Aquatic Animal Tracking: Technology, Science, and Application

Electronic tags are significantly improving our understanding of aquatic animal behavior and are emerging as key sources of information for conservation and management practices. Future aquatic integrative biology and ecology studies will increasingly rely on data from electronic tagging. Continued advances in tracking hardware and software are needed to provide the knowledge required by managers and policymakers to address the challenges posed by the worlds changing aquatic ecosystems. We foresee multiplatform tracking systems for simultaneously monitoring the position, activity, and physiology of animals and the environment through which they are moving. Improved data collection will be accompanied by greater data accessibility and analytical tools for processing data, enabled by new infrastructure and cyberinfrastructure. To operationalize advances and facilitate integration into policy, there must be parallel developments in the accessibility of education and training, as well as solutions to key governance and legal issues.

Does Catch-and-Release Angling Alter the Behavior and Fate of Adult Atlantic Salmon During Upriver Migration?

AbstractTo reproduce, Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar return to freshwater rivers and migrate upriver to spawning areas. This migration is the basis for recreational fisheries, which for conservation reasons are increasingly characterized by catch-and-release angling. The effectiveness of catch and release for Atlantic Salmon conservation is contingent on the ability of individuals to recover from angling, resume migration, and reach spawning grounds at appropriate times. We monitored 27 caught and released Atlantic Salmon in River Gaula in 2013, a prominent and relatively pristine Norwegian river, by affixing external radio transmitters to them. Those fish were compared with a control group of 33 individuals caught and radio-tagged at sea in bag nets before river entry. Whereas none of the control fish died during the study period, there were three mortalities among the caught-and-released fish (11%; significant difference). All mortalities were qualitatively associated with poor angler care, emphasizing the...

Ten practical realities for institutional animal care and use committees when evaluating protocols dealing with fish in the field

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee’s (IACUCs) serve an important role in ensuring that ethical practices are used by researchers working with vertebrate taxa including fish. With a growing number of researchers working on fish in the field and expanding mandates of IACUCs to regulate field work, there is potential for interactions between aquatic biologists and IACUCs to result in unexpected challenges and misunderstandings. Here we raise a number of issues often encountered by researchers and suggest that they should be taken into consideration by IACUCs when dealing with projects that entail the examination of fish in their natural environment or other field settings. We present these perspectives as ten practical realities along with their implications for establishing IACUC protocols. The ten realities are: (1) fish are diverse; (2) scientific collection permit regulations may conflict with IACUC policies; (3) stakeholder credibility and engagement may constrain what is possible; (4) more (sample size) is sometimes better; (5) anesthesia is not always needed or possible; (6) drugs such as analgesics and antibiotics should be prescribed with care; (7) field work is inherently dynamic; (8) wild fish are wild; (9) individuals are different, and (10) fish capture, handling, and retention are often constrained by logistics. These realities do not imply ignorance on the part of IACUCs, but simply different training and experiences that make it difficult for one to understand what happens outside of the lab where fish are captured and not ordered/purchased/reared, where there are engaged stakeholders, and where there is immense diversity (in size, morphology, behaviour, life-history, physiological tolerances) such that development of rigid protocols or extrapolation from one species (or life-stage, sex, size class, etc.) to another is difficult. We recognize that underlying these issues is a need for greater collaboration between IACUC members (including veterinary professionals) and field researchers which would provide more reasoned, rational and useful guidance to improve or maintain the welfare status of fishes used in field research while enabling researchers to pursue fundamental and applied questions related to the biology of fish in the field. As such, we hope that these considerations will be widely shared with the IACUCs of concerned researchers.

How experimental biology and ecology can support evidence-based decision-making in conservation: avoiding pitfalls and enabling application

Experimental biology and ecology show much promise for informing evidence-based decision making. To do so most immediately and effectively, experimentalists need to consider a number of factors when designing, executing and analyzing experiments to ensure that findings will be deemed relevant and reliable by conservation practitioners.

Tracking invasive animals with electronic tags to assess risks and develop management strategies

Invasive species alter ecosystem structure and function when they establish in new habitats. Although preventing or managing invasions is extremely important for maintaining biodiversity, doing so is difficult and requires efficient intervention. Remote monitoring of free-living animals with electronic tags (i.e. tags that transmit data remotely or log them for future retrieval) can contribute important knowledge about invasive animal biology. A quantitative literature review identified instances in which electronic tagging has contributed to studying invasions. Electronic tags were generally used for one of four purposes: (1) characterize spatial ecology; (2) identify interactions; (3) assess risk potential; or (4) evaluate management options. Overall, electronic tags have considerable potential for developing, refining, and evaluating invasion management strategies that contribute to conservation efforts. We explore the role of electronic tags as a component of integrated control program design and implementation for invasive animals.

Factors Influencing Postrelease Predation for a Catch-And-Release Tropical Flats Fishery with a High Predator Burden

AbstractPostrelease predation (PRP) of fishes released by anglers is a potentially significant contributor to overall mortality in recreational fisheries. We quantified PRP and examined the impacts of handling and release practices on Shortjaw Bonefish Albula glossodonta, a species of shallow-water Pacific bonefish that supports a recreational fishery throughout its range and is emerging as recreationally important to the economy in Anaa Atoll, French Polynesia. We caught, released, and monitored the postrelease movements of Shortjaw Bonefish on the shallow flats of Anaa Atoll via recreational angling gear and small floats attached to the bonefish. Using Cox proportional hazards regression of our observations of PRP we tested how handling practices (air exposure) and release strategies (retained for a short period versus immediate release) influenced the probability of PRP. There was some evidence that air exposure increased susceptibility to PRP. However, retention in a recovery bag for 30 min did not re...

Conservation physiology and the quest for a ‘good’ Anthropocene

Abstract The term ‘Anthropocene’ describes Earths current geological period, which is characterized by human-induced changes to our atmosphere, geology and biodiversity. Although the narrative surrounding the fate of the worlds species and ecosystems is often negative, many researchers are calling for strategies that can contribute to a ‘good Anthropocene’. We outline how the field of conservation physiology can infuse optimistic perspectives, pragmatic approaches and heightened public engagement into this pursuit.