Catch and release

From Freepedia

For the 2006 Jennifer Garner film, see Catch and Release.

Catch and release is a term given to the recreational fishing where releasing the fish (catch) is believed to be a technique of conservation. After catching the fish are released back into the water before they are totally exhausted or critically injured.

In the United States catch and release was first introduced as a management tool in the state of Michigan in 1952 as an effort to reduce cost of stocking hatchery-raised trout. Anglers fishing for fun rather than for food production accepted the idea of releasing the fish while fishing in no-kill zones. Conservationists have advocated catch and release practices as a way to ensure sustainability and avoid overfishing of fish stocks.

In England catch and release has been performed for more than century by coarse fishermen in order to prevent target species from disappearing in heavily fished waters.

In Australia, catch and release caught on slowly, with some pioneers practicing it the 1960s, and the practice slowly becoming more widespread in the 1970s and 1980s. Catch and release is now widely used to conserve - and indeed is invaluable in conserving - vulnerable fish species like the large, long lived native freshwater Murray Cod and the prized, slow-growing, heavily fished Australian bass, heavily fished coastal species like Dusky Flathead and prized gamefish like Striped Marlin.

Catch and release is disputed by some who claim it is unethical to perform allegedly painful actions to the fish for fun and not for the reason of food production. A definitive science-based conclusion on the degree fish are harmed by the process of being caught is unavailable; an examination of the facts however reveals that this argument against catch and release fishing is dubious. Most fish species feed on a variety of hard or spikey objects such as crayfish, small fish, shellfish and coral. Such feeding requires tough and insensitive mouths, and it is unlikely a hook can cause pain in such tough insensitive mouths. It is well established that hooked fish fight not because the hook in their mouth is causing them pain, but because they can feel the pressure of the fishing line. Fishermen have often observed greedy fish such as perch shake off a lure they were hooked on, only to turn around and eat it again. Such behaviour would not occur if hooks caused fish pain.

Critics of catch-and-release also fail to realise that catch-and-release will become more and more necessary to conserve fish stocks in the face of increasing populations, increasing fishing pressure and increasing habitat degradation. The alternative of banning or severely restricting angling is not reasonable or feasible.

Catch-and-release is mandatory for some species in Canada, which also requires in some cases the use of barbless hooks to facilitate release and minimize injury.

Effective catch and release methodology requires minimal handling of the fish to prevent removal of the protective slime layer. The use of barbless hooks (which can be "created" by crushing the barb/s flat with needle-nosed pliers) when practicising catch and release makes great sense and should be encouraged. Barbless hooks reduce mouth damage, reduce handling times, and increase fish survival. Concentrating on keeping the line tight while fighting fish, using recurved point or Mustad "Triple Grip" style treble hooks on lures, and equipping lures that do not have them with split rings will minimise additional losses due to the use barbless hooks to almost zero.

The effects of catch-and release vary from species to species. A truism though is that far more fish survive if released after capture than if killed after capture. A number of scientific studies have shown extremely high survival rates (95% to 99+%) for caught and released fish, particularly if caught on artificial baits such as lures. Fish caught on lures are usually hooked cleanly in the mouth, minimising injury and aiding release. Studies have shown suprisingly high survival rates (~95%) for fish gut-hooked on bait if the line is cut and the fish is released without trying to remove the hook. This procedure should be followed for any gut-hooked fish intended or required to be released.