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There are three options that are used to treat fish experiencing barotrauma: For example, snapper have been shown to be very resilient whereas species such as mulloway are much less resilient, particularly when fishing in water over 30 m deep. Physical effects include inflated abdomen, bulging eyes, stomach pushed outside the mouth and distended intestines.ĭPI research to date has shown that that resilience to barotrauma effects varies from species to species. The affects and severity increase with depth of capture and susceptibility varies between species. When many fish species are caught from water deeper than 10 metres, they can display a range of injuries due to the changes in pressure, known as barotrauma.īarotrauma results from the expansion of gases in the swim bladder and other organs when fish do not have time to adjust to the rapid changes in water pressure as they are pulled towards the surface. If you are going to take photos of your fish before release, support the fish properly.If there is any water current, hold the fish upright facing towards the current until it starts to show signs of recovery. Gently hold or push the fish through the water so that it obtains a good flow of water over its gills.Take care to revive fish upon release if they appear exhausted (struggling to hold themselves upright and/or unable to swim away).Do not hold fish by the gills or the eyes.Remember, many surfaces, especially metal, can become very hot in the sun. A smooth, wet surface or vinyl covered foam is the most suitable surface to place fish on in order to remove hooks.Use wet hands or wet gloves when handling fish to minimise damage to its skin.Avoid dropping fish onto the bottom of boats and other hard surfaces. This can be achieved by squeezing barbs down with pliers, or filing down larger barbs.Use barbless hooks or hooks with reduced barbs to make hook removal easier and minimise hook damage.Use suitable tackle for the species that you are targeting and minimise the time spent to land the fish.Other practices to help increase survival include: Other practices to help increase survival Poorly designed live wells reduce fish survival – particularly silver trevally where survival dropped from 98% to 63%.If live wells are used, maintain good water quality by using flow through, aerated system.Avoid knotted landing nets which may damage the fish’s scales, skin, eyes and fins.Use fish-friendly landing nets with soft knotless mesh.The use of needle-nosed pliers or hook retrieving devices can greatly reduce time spent unhooking.Try to remove hooks and release fish as quickly as possible.Ideally unhook fish while it is still in the water.Minimise the length of time the fish is out of the water.Up to 76% of the released line-cut, gut-hooked bream then shed their hooks within around three weeks. Compared to removing swallowed hooks from bream and mulloway, simply cutting the line increased their short-term survival from 12% to more than 85%. If the fish is hooked deeply, cut the line as close as possible to the fish’s mouth rather than removing the hook.Choose non-offset circle hooks when using bait.Use methods and rigs that increase the frequency of mouth hooked fish (rather than gut hooked), for example:.To maximise a fish's survival when practising catch and release, it is important to follow a few simple rules: No mortality – handling damage and appendage loss Recent research has shown that most fish survive using current catch and release techniques with the main factors found to reduce survival being deep hooking and poor handling. It is quite common for fishers with a strong conservation commitment to release fish that they could legally keep.Ĭompliance with bag and size limits and various fishing closures also means many anglers, by law, return fish they have caught to the water. Catch and release fishing is an increasingly popular practice among many anglers.