Ecological Dynamics and Conservation of Marine Fisheries

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 253

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, La Paz 23000, Mexico
Interests: evaluation and modeling of fisheries; ecology of coral reefs

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The exploitation of fisheries, particularly overfishing, has significant negative impacts on marine biodiversity; it has been identified as the main cause of stock depletion. To ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fisheries, harvested stocks should be maintained at levels of abundance producing the maximum sustainable yield and being able to maintain their populations in the long term. When they are overexploited, they disrupt the delicate balance of marine ecosystems, reducing the diversity of species and altering the genetic makeup of wild populations. The consequences of these changes can ripple through the entire food chain.

A general definition of biodiversity is “the collection of genomes, species, and ecosystems occurring in a geographically defined region” (NRC, 1995). Fisheries impact baseline diversity and, at the genetic level, exploitation change population characteristics of the stock structure, leading to alterations in the genoma and energy flow, impacting the diversity of marine habitats, and modifying habitats and the function of ecosystems through effects altering by-catch composition and the structures of fisheries. This problem constrains the possibility of further expanding fisheries. Changes in species diversity under the artificial selection imposed by fisheries will typically favor species with specific life history characteristics, altering trophic or energy flow pathways with consequences for ecosystem diversity and productivity. Ecosystems respond to natural perturbations that occur on longer time scales. In contrast, fisheries have major impacts on marine biodiversity in the long term, compromising their long-term sustainability, which is dependent on the species diversity that they are altering.

Dr. Ernesto A. Chavez Ortiz
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • stock assessment
  • fisheries simulation
  • biodiversity
  • harvesting strategies
  • potential biomass
  • potential production

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 4202 KiB  
Article
Genetic Impacts of Sustained Stock Enhancement on Wild Populations: A Case Study of Penaeus penicillatus in the Beibu Gulf, China
by Yaxuan Wu, Dianrong Sun, Liangming Wang, Yan Liu, Changping Yang, Manting Liu, Qijian Xie, Cheng Chen, Jianwei Zou, Dajuan Zhang and Binbin Shan
Diversity 2025, 17(8), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17080511 - 24 Jul 2025
Viewed by 179
Abstract
In recent decades, fishery stock enhancement has been increasingly utilized as a restoration tool to mitigate population declines and enhance the resilience of marine fisheries. Nevertheless, persistent enhancement efforts risk eroding the evolutionary potential of wild populations via genetic homogenization and maladaptive gene [...] Read more.
In recent decades, fishery stock enhancement has been increasingly utilized as a restoration tool to mitigate population declines and enhance the resilience of marine fisheries. Nevertheless, persistent enhancement efforts risk eroding the evolutionary potential of wild populations via genetic homogenization and maladaptive gene flow. Using long-term monitoring data (2017–2023), we quantified the effects of large-scale Penaeus penicillatus stock enhancement (~108 juveniles/yr) on wild population dynamics and genetic integrity in the Beibu Gulf ecosystem. Temporal genetic changes were assessed using eight highly polymorphic microsatellite loci, comparing founder (2017) and enhanced (2024) populations to quantify stocking impacts. Insignificantly lower expected heterozygosity was observed in the stocked population (He = 0.60, 2024) relative to natural populations (He = 0.62–0.66; p > 0.1), indicating genetic dilution effects from enhancement activities. No significant erosion of genetic diversity was detected post-enhancement, suggesting current stocking practices maintain short-term population genetic integrity. Despite conserved heterozygosity, pairwise Fst analysis detected significant genetic shifts between temporal cohorts (pre-enhancement—2017 vs. post-enhancement—2024; Fst = 0.25, p < 0.05), demonstrating stocking-induced population restructuring. Genetic connectivity analysis revealed that while the enhanced Beihai population (A-BH) maintained predominant self-recruitment (>90%), it experienced substantial stocking-derived gene flow (17% SW → A-BH). The post-stocking period showed both reduced genetic exchange with adjacent populations and increased asymmetric dispersal from A-BH (e.g., 5% to YJ), indicating that hatchery releases simultaneously enhanced population isolation while altering regional genetic structure. Our findings revealed the paradoxical dual effects of stock enhancement and allelic diversity while disrupting natural genetic architecture. This underscores the need for evolutionary-impact assessments in marine resource management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological Dynamics and Conservation of Marine Fisheries)
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