PESQUE-E-SOLTE ALTERA LOCOMOÇÃO DE JUVENIS DE TILÁPIA-DO-NILO

Abstract

Catch-and-release fishing is practiced worldwide and is growing in many countries. However, for the practice of catch-and-release to occur it is essential to know the effects of fishing on fish, as well as the development of mitigation measures. Despite the knowledge of the various physical effects of catch-and-release, the behavioral effects are little known. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of catch-and-release fishing on the behavior of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). For this, the fish were allocated in two experimental groups: the control group, caught by net and the group fished, caught with line and hook. The individuals were kept in individual aquariums and behavioral tests were carried out to assess locomotor activity, feeding activity, predation, aggressiveness, and anxiety predictive behavior. Our results showed that cacth-and-release fish alters locomotor activity and feeding behavior in juvenile Nile tilapia in a short term. However, there was no effect of fishing on aggressiveness, predator detection and anxiety predictive behaviors after 48 hours. The changes observed in this study are ecologically important, as they can influence the growth in predation risk, in addition to the first minutes after release being the most critical for the survival of fish caught and returned to the environment.