Doc's Perspective on Catch and Release Fishing
The virtues of catch and release fishing have been talked up by fisheries biologists all across the country, and the practice is one that can ensure the quality of future fishing. The basic idea is that, by releasing fish, they will be available for others to catch; and a gamefish is too valuable a resource to be caught just once. It is the single most compelling argument to favor a non-consumptive approach to a fishery. Each time the fish is caught, its intrinsic value to a fisherman is also greater since it will, presumably, provide greater sport and increased angler satisfaction as it grows in size.The long-term benefits of catch and release fishing are straightforward and easy for the true sportsman to understand - more and bigger fish down the line. The whole concept however hinges on the survival of those fish that are caught and released. If the fish is to die anyway, then it might easily be argued that it would have served a higher purpose in the frying pan. I can find no fault in that argument either. A recent compilation of research studies on the survival of hooked and released fish provides considerable insight into the matter. Without belaboring the methodologies used in the studies, suffice it to say that the scientific method was applied. The studies were geared to determine fish mortality attributable to just the type of terminal tackle employed. Flies, a variety of lures and several kinds of natural bait were tested. Single hooks were compared to treble hooks and barbless hooks were compared to barbed hooks, all over a wide range of hook sizes. The effects of handling of the fish were standardized. Every effort was made that the effects of fish-handling did not bias the outcome. That is, the control fish underwent the same handling as the fish that were hooked. With that minimum background, here then are the results: Fish caught with natural baits suffered a much higher mortality rate than those caught on artificial baits. The results are summarized here: Hooking Method Mortality Rate Bait 31.4% Lures 4.9% Flies 3.8% Fish caught on barbless hooks suffer lower mortality than those caught on barbed hooks (2.6% versus 4.8%). As any fisherman who has ever had to remove a hook from his hand knows, the trauma associated with removal of a barbed hook is considerable. Barbless hooks, on the other hand, come out as easily as they enter. Interestingly, it has always been thought that playing a fish for a longer period of time reduces its chances of survival. To be sure, the fish's blood chemistry changes and the buildup of lactic acid and other chemicals related to stress and exhaustion does occur; and it can take days for the fish to recover. Still, these effects are sublethal. The results are startling: Fish played for ten minutes fared just as well as fish played for half that time. The major cause of hooking mortality is hooking injury itself and not the length of time that the fish is played. Studies were also able to correlate areas hooked with mortality rates. The esophagus and gills are clearly the most potentially lethal places to hook a fish. 57 percent of the fish hooked in these areas will die. The eyes and tongue may also be critical with about a 23 percent mortality rate. Hooking the fish in the mouth and jaws, on the other hand, results in less than a ten percent mortality rate. Though I don't recall seeing any scientific data to
validate the claim, I suspect |
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