Abstract
Sustainable fishery management of exploited species should include preservation of biological diversity. This requires knowledge of population structure and local adaptations, as well as information on how human-induced selection regimes affect fitness characteristics and natural productivity. This project focuses on the commercially important pikeperch, and addresses the following questions: 1) To what extent is this species spatially structured into genetically distinct local populations? 2) Does variation between populations in morphology and life-history reflect local adaptations? 3) What are the genetic effects of long-term stocking activities? 4) Has intense and selective fishing resulted in evolutionary changes? We aim at answering these questions by various approaches. Population structure will be studied using genetic markers. Comparisons of contemporary and historic samples will provide information on effective population sizes and the long-term genetic impact of stocking activities. Local adaptation will be studied by rearing different populations under identical environmental conditions, and by comparing the degree of divergence in neutral parts of the genome with genetically based differentiation in phenotypic traits. Evolutionary effects of fishing will be evaluated statistically by comparisons of contemporary and historic life-history data. Ultimately, this project will deliver information necessary for development of biologically sound management strategies.
Sweden