TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of food provisioning on site use in the short-tail stingray Bathytoshia brevicaudata
AU - Pini-Fitzsimmons, Joni
AU - Knott, Nathan A.
AU - Brown, Culum
PY - 2018/7/30
Y1 - 2018/7/30
N2 - Food provisioning can have significant effects on marine wildlife. It is common practice for recreational anglers to discard fish waste back into waterways, yet the effects of incidental provisioning as a result of recreational fish cleaning on marine wildlife have not been assessed and are likely not being considered in fisheries management. At the Woollamia boat ramp in Jervis Bay, Australia, local anglers have been incidentally provisioning short-tail stingrays Bathytoshia brevicaudata through fish-cleaning activities for >30 yr. This provided an opportunity to investigate the influence of provisioning on a small scale. We used behavioural observations to assess stingray site use patterns against provisioning intensity to determine if provisioning can cause changes to the movements and behaviour of this large, marine mesopredator. Twelve female short-tail stingrays were found to use the site during observation periods for this study. Their presence was significantly correlated with the intensity of provisioning events (cumulative duration per observation session), which occurred most often in the afternoons. Significantly more stingrays visited during provisioning than pre-provisioning in simulated provisioning trials at sites where stingrays are not normally provisioned. Additionally, stingrays were considered to be exhibiting anticipatory behaviour as evidenced by increased visitation in the afternoon, irrespective of whether the fish-cleaning table was in use. These data indicate an influence of provisioning on the stingrays’ movements and use of the site and has implications with respect to accepted practices for discarding fish waste.
AB - Food provisioning can have significant effects on marine wildlife. It is common practice for recreational anglers to discard fish waste back into waterways, yet the effects of incidental provisioning as a result of recreational fish cleaning on marine wildlife have not been assessed and are likely not being considered in fisheries management. At the Woollamia boat ramp in Jervis Bay, Australia, local anglers have been incidentally provisioning short-tail stingrays Bathytoshia brevicaudata through fish-cleaning activities for >30 yr. This provided an opportunity to investigate the influence of provisioning on a small scale. We used behavioural observations to assess stingray site use patterns against provisioning intensity to determine if provisioning can cause changes to the movements and behaviour of this large, marine mesopredator. Twelve female short-tail stingrays were found to use the site during observation periods for this study. Their presence was significantly correlated with the intensity of provisioning events (cumulative duration per observation session), which occurred most often in the afternoons. Significantly more stingrays visited during provisioning than pre-provisioning in simulated provisioning trials at sites where stingrays are not normally provisioned. Additionally, stingrays were considered to be exhibiting anticipatory behaviour as evidenced by increased visitation in the afternoon, irrespective of whether the fish-cleaning table was in use. These data indicate an influence of provisioning on the stingrays’ movements and use of the site and has implications with respect to accepted practices for discarding fish waste.
KW - Bathytoshia brevicaudata
KW - Batoidea
KW - Human−wildlife interaction
KW - Incidental provisioning
KW - Recreational fishing
KW - Shark and ray tourism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052396532&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3354/meps12661
DO - 10.3354/meps12661
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85052396532
SN - 0171-8630
VL - 600
SP - 99
EP - 110
JO - Marine Ecology Progress Series
JF - Marine Ecology Progress Series
ER -