Releasing Fish
How to release fish properly
Practicing the safe release of fish
By Dr. Bruce Mann (Oceanographic Research Institute)
Catch-and-release is increasingly being practised by more and more anglers and is undoubtedly an ethic that needs to become entrenched if we are to secure a sound future for our favourite pastime or sport. Competitive shore angling in South Africa has made some extremely positive moves in this direction with most competitions now being fished on a catch and release basis. However, there is still much that anglers can do to improve the chances of their catch surviving. Catch-and-release mortality, or death due to hooking, fighting and handling fish before release, may be considerably higher than we think with some fisheries scientists estimating that at least 25% of released fish die due to sport fishing. Many variables determine whether or not a released fish will survive, including the species, the type and size of the hook, bait or lure used, how long the fish is played, how it is handled once the fish is landed and how quickly it is returned back to the water.
As Colin Attwood described in an article published in the “The Fishing Journal” (Vol 1, Issue 4), we should all be aware of the following problems that exist for many angling species:
· Fish exhaust themselves when hooked and build up lactic acid in the muscle and damage muscle tissue, which makes them stiff and sluggish (similar to humans). This makes released fish vulnerable to predators. The longer the fight and the longer a fish is kept out of the water the worse the problem.
· A swallowed hook that is cut off may rust and toxify the blood or interfere with the normal passage of food.
· Handling fish with dry, unclean hands may lead to subsequent infections. The epidermis of fish lies on the outside of the scales and is responsible for secreting slime that protects it from pathogens. The epidermis, being very thin, is easily ruptured if touched by dry and abrasive objects, which in turn allows an entry point for pathogens.
· Fish eyes may be easily damaged by abrasion and sunburn, as fish have no eyelids.
· Lifting a large fish, with either a vertical or horizontal hold, places the skeleton and abdominal organs under unnatural stresses that may lead to bruising or rupturing.
· Gaffing a fish, which is to be released, greatly reduces its chance of survival.
Having pointed out these facts, here are a few tips and suggestions to consider if you are planning to release your fish to help ensure that it has a better chance of surviving.
Firstly, use strong tackle. Playing a fish for hours on light tackle may require “angling skill” but the longer it is played, the less likely your fish will survive. The size, shape and type of hook used are important. Removing or flattening the barbs is the first thing to do, you will be surprised that you don’t loose many fish as long as your line is kept tight and the hook-up rate is better. Rather use large, wide single hooks than trebles. If you have to use trebles (e.g. when using a lure that needs treble hooks for correct swimming action), take off the points leaving just one point on each treble. Barbless steel or bronzed hooks are better than nickel or tin coated hooks, the latter causing a toxic response if left embedded in a fish’s jaw or throat. Circle hooks are good news as far fewer fish are gut hooked, especially if you are fishing with live-bait. Where possible avoid leaving hooks in the fish’s mouth, some fairly sophisticated de-hooking tools are available in most tackle shops, which work well.
An important point is to minimise handling of your fish. Where possible leave it in the water and remove the hook using long-nose pliers or a de-hooking tool. Where this is not possible try and land your fish on a sandy beach and keep it on the wet sand. Instead of weighing your fish, which causes additional stress, simply take an accurate measurement of its length (i.e. fork length, total length, pre-caudal length or disk width). Good length-weight relationships exist for most of our more common angling species so the weight can easily be calculated at a later stage. Some innovative landing stretchers have been developed which greatly assist in reducing handling stress and enable easy measuring. Placing a wet cloth over the eyes of your fish helps to calm it down and reduces injury to these sensitive organs. Remember fast turn around time is essential, the sooner your fish is back in the water after being caught the greater its chance of survival.
As recreational anglers we all have the responsibility to look after the fish resources which provide us with so much enjoyment. We need to respect the fish we catch and treat them accordingly, not simply view them as points on the board as often happens in the excitement of a “smash”. Gone are the days of catching tons of duskies, milkies or lessers and having them removed by the truckload after a competition. Many of our linefish and shark species are overexploited and it is really up to us to ensure their survival for generations to come. Recreational angling is undoubtedly a blood sport and there is increasing public pressure being placed on organised angling to reduce the environmental impact associated with fishing competitions. Within angling circles good competition anglers are generally regarded as being highly skilled anglers capable of catching substantially more fish than your average recreational angler. For this reason I believe that competition anglers should lead the way in developing better catch and release practises and ensuring the development of a responsible ethic towards sound
stewardship of our fish resources.
Use a weigh mat to measure fish
Support in shallow water to help it recover before releasing it
Tips on Practising the safe release of fish.
* Try and land your fish as quickly as possible without losing them. Using thin line is only sporting for the angler not for the fish if you lose you fish the chances are the fish will be left with a hook in its mouth and are very high that the fish will die.
* When collecting data act quickly the longer the fish is out of water the less chance it will have of surviving. Return the fish as soon as possible after landing it. this is common sense but not often practiced.
* Big sharks are better landed with a rope gaff rather than being played to death even a hook gaff place in the tail will improve the chances of its survival. Long fights are often the main cause of death when landing big fish.
* Make sure you do not lift the fish by the putting your hands in its gills you will have a good chance of damaging the blood vessels in the throat and killing the fish instantly.
* Use glove’s on your hand to land big rays by inserting you hand in there mouths do not gaff rays as the are far more sensitive than sharks and do not turn them on there back as this will remove the body slime that protects them and this action can tear vital and damage vital organs.
* Make sure you use a weigh matt to measure fish before returning them rather than using a hook on a scale to calculate the weight of the fish. As you lift the fish on the scale the weight of the fish might tear and damages internal organs that will normally be suspended in water to support them.
* The mat will help reduce damage to the outer coating of body slime and lesson the chance of infection
* Make sure your hands are clean and wet whilst handling the fish to reduce damaging the outer body slime that reduces infection.
* Make sure you remove the hooks rather than cutting the line and leaving them in the fish.
* Try and use single circle barb less hooks this is more sporting than using thin line to prove a point of how good you are at fishing. Barbless hooks are quiker to remove keeping the fish out the water for less time whilst removing the hook.
Using circle hooks result in less fish being gut hooked and therefore easier to remove the hooks causing less casualty’s
* When releasing fish make sure you swim them in the shallows by supporting them and allowing water to flow over there gills before releasing them. Do not pull them back and forth rather support them and move them up and down to allow water to flow over there gills. This will help the fish recover before they swim off and will also ensure the chances of the fish being eaten by a shark are far less as they swim free.
Use single hooks on lures to help reduce injury to fish.
Try and make sure you have a pair off long nose plieres or hook removing tool to remove deeply embeded hooks
Rather leave deeply embedded hooks in fish to rust out rather than trying to remove them and cut line as close as possible to the hook
Take a sheet of plastic to build a holding pool on the beach in the sand to place the fish in whilst finding your weigh matt and score card to document the fishes details
Take photos as quickly as possible to give the fish a chance of surviving.
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