Towards a mechanistic understanding of vulnerability to hook-and-line fishing: boldness as the basic target of angling-induced selection

In passively operated fishing gear, boldness-related behaviors should fundamentally affect the vulnerability of individual fish and thus be under fisheries selection. To test this hypothesis, we used juvenile common-garden reared carp (Cyprinus carpio) within a narrow size-range to investigate the mechanistic basis of behavioral selection caused by angling. We focused on one key personality trait (i.e., boldness), measured in groups within ponds, two morphological traits (body-shape and head-shape), and one life-history trait (juvenile growth capacity) and studied mean standardized selection gradients caused by angling. Carp behavior was highly repeatable within ponds. In the short-term, over seven days of fishing, total length, not boldness, was the main predictor of angling vulnerability. However, after 20 days of fishing, boldness turned out to be the main trait under selection, followed by juvenile growth rate, while morphological traits were only weakly related to angling vulnerabi...