Like many anglers, I care deeply about our fisheries and want every released fish to have the best possible chance of survival. Still, I’m not perfect, and there are fish releases I wish I could do over again. That realization led me to seek a catch-and-release refresher from two experts: Steven J. Cooke, Professor of Applied Fish Ecology at Carleton University and Chair of the Board for KeepFishWet — a US-based non-for-profit, and Adam Weir, fisheries biologist for the Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters. After several conversations and plenty of note taking, I came away with practical, science-based advice. Keep them in the drink Minimizing air exposure is critical during catch-and-release. Use a landing net to keep a fish partially submerged while removing hooks, measuring it, or allowing it to recover before release. If you need to weigh or photograph a fish, do it quickly. “We need to be aware of the stress this puts on fish and work efficiently,” Weir said. “Keep the fish in the water as much as possible, take it out only briefly when needed, and return it right away.” It’s also important to understand how air exposure can compound the negative effects of other stressors on a fish, Cooke noted. Put another way, things get increasingly worse for a badly hooked, overtired, or heat-stressed fish the longer it’s kept out of the water and unable to get oxygen. Save the slime A fish’s protective slime coating is essential to its health. “On top of a fish’s scales is what we call slime, and it is part of the fish,” Cooke said. “It’s really, really important. It protects the fish, and when it is disrupted, fish get infections.” This shielding mucus, along with scales, can be removed when fish touch dry, rough, or hard surfaces (e.g., un-wet hands, boat carpeting, grass, rocks). When this happens, it creates a pathway for longer-term infections to occur, Cooke explained. “You’re never going to handle a fish with dry hands and have it die in front of you,” he said. “Two or three days later, the fish will start to develop fungal infections, or other opportunistic pathogens will jump on board. Then by day five or six, it looks like it’s wearing a fur coat, and then it’s dead by day seven or eight. It ends up being one of those things that’s cryptic [because] the fish swims away,
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