Jacob William Brownscombe

• MSc, PhD
• Research Associate at Carleton University

Fisheries interactions that result in the capture and release of fish can cause behavioral impairments that increase the risk of postrelease predation. Increased predation risk has been attributed to reduced swimming capabilities; however, the role of refuge (structural shelter) use is still poorly understood. We examined the effect of fishing-rela...

Bonefish (Albula spp.) are a group of species targeted by recreational anglers in shallow tropical and sub-tropical seas worldwide. Although bonefish angling is almost entirely catch-and-release, mortality can occur because the stress associated with angling and handling causes locomotory impairment that promotes post-release predation. We used tri...

The objective of this research was to determine if the highly invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) experiences lower predation risk during early stages of invasion. We compared round goby predation rates between a recently invaded area (occupied for ≈1 year) and a longer established area (≈7 years) of the Trent River, Ontario, Canada. Tethe...

The rates of upstream and downstream range expansion of the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) were examined in the Trent-Severn Waterway in 2009 and 2010. Relative abundance, demographics, and habitat use were also compared between areas of range expansion and a longer established area to determine how these characteristics varied along the invas...

We introduce an angling technique for estimating the density of the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). Sampling is conducted from a boat that is securely anchored in a randomly selected site. By taking advantage of the aggressive nature, small size, and limited home range of the round goby, two anglers are generally able to deplete the local aggr...

The great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran) is a highly mobile shark species whose population in the United States declined dramatically through the early 2000s. Their spatial ecology is poorly understood, creating challenges for effective conservation of this enigmatic marine predator. Using acoustic telemetry and network analyses, we describe t...

Flats ecosystems are dynamic, shallow, nearshore marine environments that are interconnected and provide immense ecological and socio-economic benefits. These habitats support a diversity of fish populations and various fisheries, yet they are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic stressors, including overfishing, habitat degradation, coastal de...

Bioenergetics models have many valuable applications for fishes, but often lack ecological realism due to limited data from free-living wild animals. Here we used heart rate loggers and accelerometers in wild largemouth bass (LMB; Micropterus nigricans) to characterize their bioenergetics during the winter (fall to late-spring) in a small lake. Act...

Debate about the potential benefits and risks of live sonar technology (also known as live imaging sonar and forward-facing sonar) in freshwater recreational fisheries includes growing discussions regarding regulation. Synthesizing sparse literature, experiences of the coauthors, and observations from traditional and social media, we revealed a var...

Bioenergetic modelling is valuable for addressing many questions in animal ecology. However, applying these models to wild animals is limited by challenges with collecting in situ energetics data. To enable field applications, we conducted laboratory experiments using a swim tunnel respirometer on wild (n = 28) and hatchery-origin (n = 19) walleye...

Recreational anglers have access to a diverse range of rod and line strengths that enable them to choose equipment that can enhance their ability to effectively target and capture specific fish of a given body size. However, anglers may not always select the appropriate gear type for the targeted species. Here, we assessed the effect of gear setup...

Objective Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus remain problematic for Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush restoration in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Fisheries assessments would benefit from knowledge of spatial–temporal patterns of Sea Lamprey parasitism on Lake Trout; however, such patterns are challenging to estimate from wounding rates on caught Lake Trou...

Bioenergetics models are powerful tools used to address a range of questions in fish biology. However, these models are rarely informed by free‐swimming activity data, introducing error. To quantify the costs of activity in free‐swimming fish, calibrations produced from standardized laboratory trials can be applied to estimate energy expenditure fr...

Effective modern conservation depends on active stakeholder participation. Although stakeholder engagement is increasing, the extent of this engagement and the successful application of outcomes to science and management varies regionally and among types of fisheries. A collaborative model that emphasizes knowledge coproduction with stakeholders be...

Conservation decisions surrounding which fish habitats managers choose to protect and restore are informed by fish habitat models. As acoustic telemetry has allowed for improvements in our ability to directly measure fish positions year‐round, so too have there been opportunities to refine and apply fish habitat models. In an area with considerable...

Species distribution information is essential for conservation. However, sampling the full range of a species’ potential distribution is rarely feasible, necessitating the development of models to predict distributions, as well as relevant environmental and biotic drivers. We applied a novel approach to model the distribution of a species at risk i...

Bioenergetics is informative for a range of fundamental and applied resource management questions, but findings are often constrained by a lack of ecological realism due to the challenges of remotely estimating key parameters such as metabolic rate. To enable field applications, we conducted a calibration study with smallmouth bass (Micropterus dol...

Catch-and-release angling is a popular recreational activity that has been shown to have impacts on fish welfare. Angler behaviour (e.g., choice of gear type, handling time) and environmental conditions (e.g., water temperature) during angling events have been documented to influence fish condition and post-release survival. This is particularly tr...

Researchers are increasingly using biologging equipment (e.g., telemetry receivers, temperature loggers) to characterize the ecology of aquatic ecosystems. This equipment is commonly deployed at a wide range of water depths and greatly expands our capacity to remotely monitor aquatic ecosystems; however, equipment retrieval can be a major challenge...

Fish populations rely on complex environmental conditions involving physical, chemical, and biological factors. Understanding the factors that control population persistence and productivity is essential for species management. We assessed the distribution and associated habitat features of a species at risk in Canada, Silver Shiner (Notropis photo...

Objective Shark depredation, the full or partial consumption of a hooked fish by a shark before it is landed, is an increasing source of human–wildlife conflict in recreational fisheries. Reports of shark depredation in the catch‐and‐release Tarpon (also known as Atlantic Tarpon) Megalops atlanticus fishery in the Florida Keys are increasing, speci...

Individual fish movement patterns and behaviors influence population-level traits, and are important for understanding their ecology and evolution. Understanding these behaviors is key for managing and conserving migratory animal populations, including Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus), that support an economically important recreational fisher...

Winter at high latitudes is characterized by low temperatures, dampened light levels and short photoperiods which shape ecological and evolutionary outcomes from cells to populations to ecosystems. Advances in our understanding of winter biological processes (spanning physiology, behaviour and ecology) highlight that biodiversity threats (e.g. clim...

Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) support an economically important fishery, yet there is limited information on the status of their fishery and population. A survey consisting of anglers and fishing guides was administered to help address these data deficiencies and to better understand the current and historical status of the recreational Atl...

Unlabelled: Fish habitat associations are important measures for effective aquatic habitat management, but often vary over broad spatial and temporal scales, and are therefore challenging to measure comprehensively. We used a 9-year acoustic telemetry dataset to generate spatial-temporal habitat suitability models for seven fish species in an urba...

The socio-cultural, economic, and environmental conditions of the world are changing rapidly and recreational fisheries will have to adapt to the uncertain future. Key research areas include assessing the sustainability of recreational fishing in response to climate change, ongoing biodiversity decline and changing social values. In this context, t...

Permit (Trachinotus falcatus) support recreational fisheries in South Florida, and there is limited monitoring to assess population trends. To address this knowledge deficiency, we conducted a survey of Permit anglers and fishing guides to collect local ecological knowledge (LEK) on fisheries trends, focused mainly on the Florida Keys. Respondents...

Understanding the factors that contribute to fish impairment and survival from angling events is essential to guide best angling practices for catch-and-release (C&R) recreational fisheries. Complex interactions often exist between angler behaviour, environmental conditions, and fish characteristics that ultimately determine biological outcomes for...

Seagrass conservation is critical for mitigating climate change due to the large stocks of carbon they sequester in the seafloor. However, effective conservation and its potential to provide nature-based solutions to climate change is hindered by major uncertainties regarding seagrass extent and distribution. Here, we describe the characterization...

Energy is a fundamental currency of life that can be quantified in organisms to understand how environmental conditions and anthropogenic stressors affect individuals, scaling up to populations and entire ecosystems. Bioenergetics studies have been conducted extensively on fishes, with an historical focus on lab-based experiments relevant to fisher...

Permit (Trachinotus falcatus) occupy a variety of coastal marine habitats and support valuable recreational fisheries in their home region of the Caribbean Sea. As an aggregate spawning species, Permit require careful management in locations such as the Florida Keys where they experience substantial fishing pressure. We used acoustic telemetry to e...

Tropical and subtropical coastal flats are shallow regions of the marine environment at the intersection of land and sea. These regions provide myriad ecological goods and services, including recreational fisheries focused on flats-inhabiting fishes such as bonefish, tarpon, and permit. The cascading effects of climate change have the potential to...

Fish captured and released by recreational anglers are often exposed to air to enable hook removal and for admiration (e.g., photography). It is necessary to identify thresholds for air exposure that minimize sublethal alterations to inform best practice guidelines yet doing so in ecological-relevant field settings is challenging. We developed a no...

This study investigated the potential effects of red tide events (blooms of the toxin-producing dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis) on Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus), a long-lived migratory game fish, along the southwestern coast of Florida. In this region, red tides have long been associated with mass mortality events of marine organisms and ot...

In nearly every ecosystem, human predators (hunters and fishers) exploit animals at extraordinarily high rates, as well as target different age classes and phenotypes, compared to other apex predators. Demographically decoupled from prey populations and technologically advanced, humans now impose widespread and significant ecological and evolutiona...

Bonefish (Albula spp.) have ecological, economic, and cultural importance throughout their tropical and subtropical range. These fish reside primarily in shallow, nearshore habitats, and their movement patterns are largely dominated by tidal flows, thermal regime, and seasonal spawning migrations. Previous studies of their spatial ecology show that...

There is growing evidence that bioenergetics can explain relationships between environmental conditions and fish behaviour, distribution and fitness. Fish energetic needs increase predictably with water temperature, but metabolic performance (i.e., aerobic scope) exhibits varied relationships, and there is debate about its role in shaping fish ecol...

Interspecific interactions can play an essential role in shaping wildlife populations and communities. To date, assessments of interspecific interactions, and more specifically predator–prey dynamics, in aquatic systems over broad spatial and temporal scales (i.e., hundreds of kilometers and multiple years) are rare due to constraints on our abilit...

There are many syntheses on the role of animal behavior in understanding and mitigating conservation threats for wildlife. That body of work has inspired the development of a new discipline called conservation behavior. Yet, the majority of those synthetic papers focus on non-fish taxa such as birds and mammals. Many fish populations are subject to...

Animal movement and resource use are essential considerations for effective environmental management, but they are challenging to quantify in expansive natural ecosystems such as oceans. We used a novel combination of fish tracking with expansive acoustic telemetry networks, stable isotope analysis and integrated modelling techniques to characteriz...

Black bass Micropterus spp. live‐release tournaments are a popular activity in North America. Efforts continue to further increase survival and enhance welfare of fish released from competitive angling events. Recently, some tournaments have adopted a new weigh‐in format in which black bass are weighed immediately (hanging from a scale in air) and...

Freshwater ecosystems are home to a rich biodiversity that faces many persistent and emerging threats and stressors. Scientists have adopted the use of electronic tagging and tracking technology (e.g., biotelemetry and biologging) to understand the biology and animal behavior of organisms that live in inland waters. Electronic tags can help generat...

The effectiveness of catch‐and‐release as a conservation practice assumes minimal impacts to released fish. In most cases, angling‐related stressors can be mitigated via changes to angler behavior that reduce fight duration, handling, and air exposure. In some cases, stressors may significantly impact the ability of fish to engage in normal swimmin...

There are a variety of tools that have been developed to aid in hook removal of angled fish that are intended for release. The premise of these tools is that they enable rapid hook removal while causing negligible injury to fish. Here we scientifically assessed the efficacy of dehooking tools for the removal of single barbed J-hooks from the jaw re...

Monitoring animals with electronic tags is an increasingly important tool for fundamental and applied ecological research. Based on the size of the system under study, the ability to recapture the animal, and research medium (e.g., aerial, freshwater, saltwater, terrestrial), tags selected may either log data in memory (bio-logging), transmit it to...

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundr...

Effective management of freshwater fish habitat is essential to supporting healthy aquatic ecosystems and sustainable fisheries. In Canada, recent changes to the Fisheries Act enhanced the protection of fish habitat, but application of those provisions relies on sound scientific evidence. We employed collaborative research prioritization methods to...

Technology that is developed for or adopted by the recreational fisheries sector (e.g., anglers and the recreational fishing industry) has led to rapid and dramatic changes in how recreational anglers interact with fisheries resources. From improvements in finding and catching fish to emulating their natural prey and accessing previously inaccessib...

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have emerged as potentially important conservation tools for the conservation of biodiversity and mitigation of climate impacts. Among MPAs, a large percentage has been created with the implicit goal of protecting shark populations, including 17 shark sanctuaries which fully protect sharks throughout their jurisdiction...

Catch-and-release (C&R) angling is common with anglers releasing a portion of their catch to comply with harvest regulations or because of their conservation ethic. The basis of C&R lies in the assumption that a large proportion of the fish survive and experience limited fitness consequences – that is, the welfare status of individual fish is maint...

The premise of catch‐and‐release recreational angling is that post‐release survival is high. Therefore, it is common for anglers, management agencies, and conservation organizations to share information on handling practices and other strategies that are believed to improve the welfare and survival of fish that are released. A recent surge in popul...

Fishes are often caught as bycatch on longlines and subsequently discarded. The behavioural response of fishes to longline capture is poorly understood, although it may be linked to the magnitude of the physiological stress response, and, ultimately, contribute to stress-induced mortality. We used accelerometers, video cameras, and hook timers to a...

Information on ecological systems often comes from diverse sources with varied levels of complexity, bias, and uncertainty. Accordingly, analytical techniques continue to evolve that address these challenges to reveal the characteristics of ecological systems and inform conservation actions. We applied multiple statistical learning algorithms (i.e....

The premise of catch-and-release angling is that most fish survive fisheries interactions. Therefore, it is common for anglers, management agencies, and other organizations to share information on handling practices and other strategies that are believed to improve fish welfare and survival. Recent media coverage has sensationalized the use of carb...

Grouping behavior occurs across a wide variety of taxa, both within and between species. While members are thought to obtain foraging and antipredator advantages, they can also experience costs in the forms of competition or increased conspicuity to predators. The mechanisms behind these costs and benefits can vary depending on group composition, u...

The Caribbean bonefish species Albula vulpes is an economically important nearshore marine sport fish that has notably declined in the Florida Keys over the past 20–30 years. The reasons for this decline are unclear, although habitat loss, water quality reductions, climate change, and other environmental drivers likely play a role. Infectious disea...

Recreational fisheries hold immense ecological, social, and economic value. The management of these fisheries is increasingly important as we move forward in the Anthropocene. Recreational fisheries managers face several challenges as fisheries often involve diverse social and ecological systems comprised of complex feedback and stakeholder motivat...

We used acoustic telemetry to quantify permit Trachinotus falcatus habitat use and connectivity in proximity to the Florida Keys, USA, and assessed these patterns relative to current habitat and fisheries management practices. From March 2017 to June 2018, 45 permit tagged within 16 km of the lower Florida Keys were detected at stationary acoustic...

Acoustic telemetry is a popular tool for long‐term tracking of aquatic animals to describe and quantify patterns of movement, space use, and diverse ecological interactions. Acoustic receivers are imperfect sampling instruments, and their detection range ( DR ; the area surrounding the receiver in which tag transmissions can be detected) often vari...

Species invasions threaten global biodiversity, and physiological characteristics may determine their impact. Specific dynamic action (SDA; the increase in metabolic rate associated with feeding and digestion) is one such characteristic, strongly influencing an animal's energy budget and feeding ecology. We investigated the relationship between SDA...

Migration is a widespread but highly diverse component of many animal life histories. Fish migrate throughout the world's oceans, within lakes and rivers, and between the two realms, transporting matter, energy, and other species (e.g., microbes) across boundaries. Migration is therefore a process responsible for myriad ecosystem services. Many hum...

Aquatic telemetry technology generates new knowledge about the underwater world that can inform decision‐making processes and thus can improve conservation and natural resource management. Still, there is lack of evidence on how telemetry‐derived knowledge can or has informed management, and what factors facilitate or deter its use. We present one...

Recreational fisheries that use rod and reel (i.e., angling) operate around the globe in diverse freshwater and marine habitats, targeting many different gamefish species and engaging at least 220 million participants. The motivations for fishing vary extensively; whether anglers engage in catch‐and‐release or are harvest‐oriented, there is strong...

Telemetry is an increasingly common tool for studying the ecology of wild fish, with great potential to provide valuable information for management and conservation. For researchers to conduct a robust telemetry study, many essential considerations exist related to selecting the appropriate tag type, fish capture and tagging methods, tracking proto...

Telemetry is being used to generate an unprecedented level of knowledge on the underwater environment, much of which is relevant to marine policy and management. Yet, examples of telemetry directly informing management practices are still rare or undocumented. Here we describe a case in which fish telemetry data were rapidly incorporated into recre...

Research in a variety of vertebrate taxa has found that cardiac function is a major limiting factor in the ability of animals to cope with physiological challenges, and thus is suggested to play an important role in mediating fitness-related behaviors in the wild. Yet, there remains a paucity of empirical assessments of the relationships between ph...

Bonefish (Albula vulpes) support a world-renowned fishery in South Florida, USA. However, fishing guides and anglers have been reporting significant declines in bonefish angling quality over that past three decades. In the absence of any long-term bonefish stock and ecosystem assessments, the cause of this decline in the fishery is unclear. Here we...

Bonefish (Albula spp.) are a popular recreational gamefish; however, there is currently limited information on bonefish early life history stages. Here we examine the diet of juvenile bonefish (Albula vulpes) in Eleuthera, The Bahamas, and provide a comparison to previously collected data on bonefish (Albula spp., primarily A. goreensis) in Florida...

Intertidal and subtidal zones consist of heterogeneous habitats and dynamic environmental conditions, providing diverse options for fish to take advantage of marine resources. We explored how various environmental factors affected habitat use of an ecologically and economically important tropical marine fish, bonefish (Albula vulpes), on a fringing...

Recreational fisheries (RF) are complex social-ecological systems that play an important role in aquatic environments while generating significant social and economic benefits around the world. The nature of RF is diverse and rapidly evolving, including the participants, their priorities and behaviors, and the related ecological impacts and social...

Some shark populations face declines owing to targeted capture and by-catch in longline fisheries. Exercise intensity during longline capture and physiological status may be associated, which could inform management strategies aimed at reducing the impacts of longline capture on sharks. The purpose of this study was to characterize relationships be...

Understanding the nature of migratory behaviors within animal populations is critical to develop and refine conservation and management plans. However, tracking migratory marine animals across life stages and over multiple years is inherently difficult to achieve, especially for highly migratory species. In this paper, we explore the use of acousti...

Knowledge of the spatial ecology and movement of animals contributes to our understanding of intra- and inter-specific interactions and ecosystem dynamics, and can inform conservation actions. Here we assessed the space use and activity levels of a marine predator, the Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi), in coastal regions of Eleuthera, The...

Recreational fisheries are increasingly important sectors of tourism-based economies. In the last decade, new recreational fisheries have emerged that target species of varying conservation status including vulnerable, endangered, and unassessed species. In Guyana, catch-and-release angling tourism has begun to target arapaima, a genus of giant air...

Recreational catch‐and‐release angling is a popular activity. Anglers often use landing nets to shorten fight times, reduce stress on the line and rod, restrict fish movement to facilitate dehooking of the fish, and protect fish from undue harm caused by handling or dropping. Landing nets are constructed using a variety of netting materials that co...

Recreational catch-and-release angling is a popular activity. Anglers often use landing nets to shorten fight times, reduce stress on the line and rod, restrict fish movement to facilitate dehooking of fish, and protect fish from undue harm from handling or dropping. Landing nets are constructed using a variety of netting materials that could have...

The stress axis in teleost fish attempts to maintain internal homeostasis in the face of allostatic loading. However, stress axis induction has been associated with a higher predation rate in fish. To date, the physiological and behavioural factors associated with this outcome are poorly understood. The purpose of the present study was to investiga...

Conservation practitioners face complex challenges due to resource limitations, biological and socioeconomic trade-offs, involvement of diverse interest groups, and data deficiencies. To help address these challenges, there are a growing number of frameworks for systematic decision making. Three prominent frameworks are structured decision making,...

Paternal care, where the male provides sole care for the developing brood, is a common form of reproductive investment among teleost fish and ubiquitous in the Centrarchidae family. Throughout the parental care period, nesting males expend energy in a variety of swimming behaviours, including routine and burst swimming, vigilantly monitoring the ne...

Postrelease predation (PRP) of fishes released by anglers is a potentially significant contributor to overall mortality in recreational fisheries. We quantified PRP and examined the impacts of handling and release practices on Shortjaw Bonefish Albula glossodonta, a species of shallow-water Pacific bonefish that supports a recreational fishery thro...

Selective harvest policies have been implemented in North America to enhance the conservation of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) stocks, which has led to an increase in the capture and release of fish by all fishing sectors. Despite the immediate survival benefits, catch-and-release results in capture stress, particularly at high water temperatu...

Synopsis: Wild animals maximize fitness through certain behaviors (e.g., foraging, mating, predator avoidance) that incur metabolic costs and often require high levels of locomotor activity. Consequently, the ability of animals to achieve high fitness often relies on their physiological capacity for exercise (aerobic scope) and/or their ability to...