Zee:
I'm really happy this topic came up. I don't think we really think much about the fish we catch after we release them. I'm guilty of not thinking sometimes and make some mistakes w/ C&R. Glad it's here so I can learn.
I guess if we want to catch the big ones in the future we've got to be concientious to how we treat the smaller ones now.
Z
ScottThornley:
We should mention the SFD, or homemade equivalent, for releasing rockfish with barotrauma:
http://www.sheltonproducts.com/SFD.html
Scott
guitarzan:
I'm responsible for this bad example of a sturg noosing. 1: I did not let the noose go beyond the gills/pec fins. 2: I pulled it out of the water. OK. I'm guilty, but the fish DEFINITALY lived, I hung on to it until it revived, and man did it revive. Also the gills were not injured, but it came close as you can clearly sea in the pic. My excuse is that this was my 1st really big sturg and I thought it could be a keeper, but I was off by a mile, plus I was freaking out like a madman cause it was a dinosaur. Ben
Bill:
Sturgeon give us a lot of the same challenges that I think people face with billfish. Ours are increased since we have to measure to see if it is in the slot which means we generally have to handle some very large fish like Ben's, often solo.
I have heard you don't want to noose them around the middle or put to much pressure on the belly cause the intestines are not able to handle get mushed much.
I don't think you could have done it much better guitarzan unless you would have just released the fish without pulling it into the boat but since sturgeon tend to float head up and tail down it is reallt difficult to do solo. Maybe Dr. Sturgeon can give some other advice.
Whalewatched:
--- Quote from: bsteves on October 10, 2006, 04:06:54 PM ---There are lots of research papers out there comparing mortality rates of C&R fishes. Most of these papers are species specific due to the fact that each species reacts differently to handling. For example, look at an anchovy wrong and it will be dead in seconds... stick a mudsucker in your pocket, have a long lunch, take it out and that fish is still good to go. Lingcod are actually fairly resilient to rough captures and here is the research that came to those conclusions.. http://spo.nwr.noaa.gov/mfr6034.pdf
Brian
--- End quote ---
I read the research paper and was most impressed by the observation that many of the injuries sustained by the lingcod did not heal after extended periods of time. This indicates to me that C&R fishing is inevitably destructive, regardless of how careful we may be handling our catches. Consequently, when I fish, I plan to keep and eat all legal fish I catch, even if they're smaller than I might prefer or not of the most desirable species. Once I catch as many as I want to keep, I stop fishing.
I end up taking a range of sizes, which I believe is better for fish populations than taking the largest specimens and injuring lots of smaller fish in the process. The idea that a fish brought up from deep water can be released unharmed by any method appears to me to be wishful thinking- the damage has already been done! However, the seals and sea lions would probably appreciate it if you tried!
One way to reduce unwanted "by-catch" is to use larger lures lures that are species-specific. For example, I am not going to catch many bat rays if I use artificials, but if I use a 4" or 5" swimbait I can probably discourage any small rockfish from biting while still catching the interest of the larger specimens. Also, using barbless hooks helps a lot in reducing fish handling time and stress.