Reflex impairment, physiological stress, and discard mortality of European plaice Pleuronectes platessa in an otter trawl fishery

Caroline Methling, Peter Vilhelm Skov, Niels Madsen

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

The reformed European Common Fisheries Policy introduced a discard ban, with a possibility of exempting species where a high discard survival can be demonstrated. This necessitates a validation of the methods used for estimating the discard mortality of candidate species. In this study, we assess whether reflex impairment can predict short-term mortality in commercially trawled European plaice upon landing and after air exposure of up to 90 min. Sub-lethal stress was assessed by a suite of physiological variables. Over a 10-day period, mortality was monitored for a total of 199 plaice following trawl and air exposure of varying duration, and for 50 control fish scored for reflex impairment on board the vessel. Mortality was only observed in fish exposed to air for >60 min, and averaged 11.1% (95% CI = 7.1–16.3%). Reflex impairment was found to be a significant (P < 0.001) predictor of mortality in a generalized linear model, excluding other initially included variables by using a stepwise method. Plasma cortisol, haematocrit, and plasma osmolality all indicated a profound and increasing level of stress with air exposure, accompanied by a near depletion of muscle phosphocreatine and nucleotides. Fishing site had an unexpected, but significant (p < 0.05) effect on stress levels, which was also reflected in reflex impairment and mortality. Based on these findings, a possible exemption from the discard ban should include considerations on the duration of air exposure.
Original languageEnglish
JournalICES Journal of Marine Science
Volume74
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)1660-1671
ISSN1054-3139
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Keywords

  • Adenylate energy charge
  • Air exposure
  • Discard survival
  • Pleuronectidae
  • RAMP
  • Reflex action mortality predictor
  • Stress response

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Reflex impairment, physiological stress, and discard mortality of European plaice Pleuronectes platessa in an otter trawl fishery'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this