Unbridled fishing pressure can drive species to the brink of extinction, but can commercial fishing drive evolution?

The drive to reproduce and avoid predation are the two main drivers of evolutionary adaptation. Arms races between predator and prey can produce dramatic evolutionary change.

Researchers at Glasgow University wanted to know whether commercial fishing trawlers could influence evolution in the same way the ocean's hunters do.

Specifically, scientists set out to find out if some fish were more susceptible to being captured by trawlers than others, and if so, would that susceptibility correlate with swimming performance and metabolism?

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