"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
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"NOYB" wrote in message
ink.net...
"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
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as to catch/release, it is almost never done properly hook set and
retrieval is never done properly and while it sounds good c/r hurts
more fish than it saves.
Proper "Catch and release hurts more fish than it saves?" Are you sure
you phrased that correctly? Afterall, the vast majority of fish caught
and released live to be fooled again.
You should know better than to say something as statistically outrageous
as that. Let's focus on red snapper, for instance. What percentage of them
are tagged or marked in some way, so they can be identified later?
Go on floridasportsman.com fishing forums and send an IM to a member named
C. undecimalis (Alexis Trotter) if you think I'm wrong. She lives in St.
Pete, works for FWC, and studies mortality rates of c/r snook.
Here's what her study showed:
General Catch and Release Mortality:
Estimated at 2.13%.
Determined in a controlled study in which 470 common snook, between 205 and
1120 mm TL (8.1" to 44.1"), were caught and held in net pens for set amount
of times.
All were held for at least 48 hours, 20.4% were held for 96 hours, 30.8%
were held for 120 hours, 3.2% were held for 288 hours.
All of the fish that died, 10 of them (or 2.13%), died within 24 hours of
capture. Terminal gear type, temperature, and fish length has no significant
effects on mortality.
The only variable that significantly effected survival was hook location. 5
of the 10 fish died after being hooked in the mouth, 4 after being hooked in
the throat or stomach, and 1 was foul-hooked.
24 snook were hooked in the throat or stomach. Of these, 12 had the hooks
removed and 12 had just the leader cut and the hook left in place. The 4
snook that died from being hooked in the throat or stomach were all fish
that had had the hook removed.
2.13% catch and release mortality is a very low value and over 90% of all
snook that are caught are released. This all seems like a good thing (and it
is), but it can become scary to a biologist or fisheries manager when you
consider the numbers. For instance:
In 2001, it was estimated that about 1,800,000 snook were caught statewide
and about 70,000 were harvested. About 1,730,000 were released. 2.14% of
that, or 36,849 snook, died from catch and release mortality. Almost 35% of
total measurable mortality. Deaths from poaching and natural mortality (cold
kills, red tide kills, etc) are hard to determine.
How to reduce catch and release mortality:
Reduce fight time by using heavy enough gear for the size of fish being
targeted.
Circle hooks are never a bad thing.
Crimp barbs on hooks.
If possible, leave the snook in the water when de-hooking.
If you have to take it out of the water, use wet hands or wet cotton gloves
and support it's belly.
Never hold a snook, particularly a large one, by it's lower jaw. This can
damage the isthmus (group of muscles and tendons that attaches the jaw to
the body and is responsible for the gulping/sucking feeding movements).
When reviving, hold the snook facing into the current and only move it in a
forward direction.
Sorry that was so long, but hope it helps. Let me know if I didn't explain
something very well or if there are any other questions.
Alexis
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So as I said: "the vast majority of fish caught and released live to be
fooled again."