Question

What is the biological impact of minimum catch sizes on a population of fish?
a.
The population comes to be dominated by smaller, slower-growing individuals.
b.
Older, less productive adults are removed, improving the population’s health.
c.
It applies a selective pressure for larger, faster growing fish.
d.
The fish in the population produce more and healthier eggs to compensate.


Please select the best answer from the choices provided

A
B
C
D

Answer 1

A

Minimum-size limits protect small fish but preferentially remove larger, older individuals. That selects for fish that mature at smaller sizes and/or grow more slowly, so populations tend to become dominated by smaller, slower-growing individuals.