Life Sciences Commons^™

Impact Of Uk Sport Fishing On Fish Welfare And Conservation, Tim Q. Holmes

Animal Sentience

Sport fishing or angling is the capture of fish for recreation or competition, i.e., for entertainment. Contrary to the claims of Key (2016), there is good evidence that fish feel pain and have the capacity for self-awareness (Sneddon et al., 2018; Woodruff, 2017). Wild fish experience a variety of adverse conditions in nature that can harm their welfare, but this does not justify humans intentionally inflicting such conditions on fish solely for our pleasure. This commentary summarises the many ways fish suffer harm to their welfare as a result of sport fishing. There are also discussions on associated activities that …

Conflicts And Triage, Kate E. Lynch, Daniel T. Blumstein

Animal Sentience

To represent diverse interests successfully, a strategy for dealing with conflicts is needed. We discuss an approach to maximizing the interests of the greatest number of individuals, present and future.

The International Whaling Commission—Beyond Whaling, Andrew J. Wright, Mark P. Simmonds, Barbara Galletti Vernazzani

Environment and Nature Conservation Collection

Since its establishment in 1946 as the international body intended to manage whaling, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has expanded its areas of interest to ensure the wider conservation of whales. Several key conservation topics have been taken forward under its auspices including climate change, chemical and noise pollution, marine debris and whale watching. Work on each of these topics at the IWC has grown substantially since the 1990s and remains ongoing. Important developments were the establishment of the Standing Working Group on Environmental Concerns in 1996 and the IWC’s Conservation Committee in 2003. Trying to address this diverse set …

Rating Harms To Wildlife: A Survey Showing Convergence Between Conservation And Animal Welfare Views, S. Dubois, D. Fraser

Environment and Nature Conservation Collection

Human activities may cause conservation concerns when animal populations or ecosystems are harmed and animal welfare concerns when individuals are harmed. In general, people are concerned with one or the other, as the concepts may be regarded as separate or even at odds. An online purposive survey of 339 British Columbians explored differences between groups that varied by gender, residency, wildlife engagement level and value orientation (conservation-oriented or animal welfare-oriented), to see how they rated the level of harm to wildlife caused by different human activities. Women, urban residents, those with low wildlife engagement, and welfare-orientated participants generally scored activities …

Toward A Synthesis Of Conservation And Animal Welfare Science, David Fraser

Conservation Biology and Animal Welfare Collection

Conservation biology and animal welfare science are multidisciplinary fields of research that address social concerns about animals. Conservation biology focuses on wild animals, works at the level of populations, ecological systems and genetic types, and deals with threats to biodiversity and ecological integrity. Animal welfare science typically focuses on captive (often domestic) animals, works at the level of individuals and groups, and deals with threats to the animals’ health and quality of life. However, there are many areas of existing or potential overlap: (i) many real-life problems, such as environmental contamination, urban development and transportation, create problems for animals that …

Animal Welfare Perspectives On Recreational Angling, Steven J. Cooke, Lynne U. Sneddon

Animal Welfare Collection

Fish captured by recreational anglers are often released either voluntarily or because of harvest regulations in a process called ‘‘catch-and-release’’. Catch-and-release angling is thought to be beneficial for the conservation of fish stocks based on the premise that most of the fish that are released survive. However, expanding interest in animal welfare has promoted debate regarding the ethics of catch-and-release angling. There is a growing recognition that fish can consciously experience nociception and that they have some capacity to experience pain and fear. Indeed, empirical anatomical, physiological, and behavioural evidence supports the notion that fish could experience these two forms …

Facts From Faeces: Prey Remains In Wolf, Canis Lupus, Faeces Revise Occurrence Records For Mammals Of British Columbia’S Coastal Archipelago, Michael H. H. Price, Chris T. Darimont, Neville N. Winchester, Paul C. Paquet

Biogeography and Ecological Opportunity Collection

Archipelagos often harbour taxa that are endemic and vulnerable to disturbance. Conservation planning and research for these areas depend fundamentally on accurate and current taxonomic inventories. Although basic ecological information is in its infancy, the temperate rainforest islands of coastal British Columbia are undergoing rapid human-caused modification, particularly logging. We report herein new mammal records for these islands as determined by prey remains in the faeces of Wolves (Canis lupus), the area’s apex mammalian terrestrial predator. Of particular interest is our detection of Marten (Martes americana) on islands previously inventoried and island occupancy by Moose (Alces alces), which have apparently …

Predators In Natural Fragments: Foraging Ecology Of Wolves In British Columbia’S Central And North Coast Archipelago, C. T. Darimont, M. H. H. Price, N. N. Winchester, J. Gordon-Walker, P. C. Paquet

Biogeography and Ecological Opportunity Collection

Aim Predator–prey dynamics in fragmented areas may be influenced by spatial features of the landscape. Although little is known about these processes, an increasingly fragmented planet underscores the urgency to predict its consequences. Accordingly, our aim was to examine foraging behaviour of an apex mammalian predator, the wolf (Canis lupus), in an archipelago environment.

Location Mainland and adjacent archipelago of British Columbia, Canada; a largely pristine and naturally fragmented landscape with islands of variable size and isolation.

Methods We sampled 30 mainland watersheds and 29 islands for wolf faeces in summers 2000 and 2001 and identified prey remains. We examined …