October 7, 2014 — “Many marine fish species change sex during their lifetimes, and many of them are targets of commercial and recreational fishing,” the grant said.
The National Science Foundation has awarded a total of $727,798 in federal funds for a three-year study on the impacts of size-selective mortality on sex-changing fish.
“Many marine fish species change sex during their lifetimes, and many of them are targets of commercial and recreational fishing,” the grant said. “The timing of sex change in these animals is often related to body size, so populations typically consist of many small fish of the initial sex (usually female) and few large fish of the other sex (usually male).”
According to the grant, smaller fish face greater mortality risk from predators, but fishermen usually seek larger fish.
“Thus, fishing that targets larger individuals may skew sex ratios, removing enough of the larger sex to hinder reproduction. However, the extent to which size-selective mortality affects sex-changing fishes is poorly understood,” it said.
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