Quantifying the impact of habitat modifications on species behavior and mortality: A case study of tropical tuna

Ecosystems and biodiversity across the world are being altered by human activities. Habitat modification and degradation are among the most important drivers of biodiversity loss. These modifications can have an impact on species behavior, which can, in turn, impact their mortality. While several studies have investigated the impacts of habitat degradation and fragmentation on terrestrial species, the extent to which habitat modifications affect the behavior and fitness of marine species is still largely unknown, particularly for pelagic species. Since the early 1990s, industrial purse seine vessels targeting tuna have started deploying artificial floating objects—Drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (DFADs)—in all oceans to increase tuna catchability. Since then, the massive deployment of DFADs has modified tuna surface habitat, by increasing the density of floating objects, with potential impacts on tuna associative behavior and mortality. In this study, we investigate these impacts for yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean. Using an individual-based model based on a correlated random walk and newly available data on DFAD densities, we quantify for the first time how the increase in floating object density, due to DFAD use, affects the percentage of time that yellowfin tuna spend associated, which, in turn, directly impacts their availability to fishers and fishing mortality. This modification of tuna associative behavior could also have indirect impacts on their fitness, by retaining tuna in areas detrimental to them or disrupting schooling behavior. Hence, there is an urgent need to further investigate DFAD impacts on tuna behavior, in particular, taking social behavior into account, and to continue regulation efforts on DFAD use and monitoring.