How to Handle Fish Ethically: Best Practices

NOVEMBER 2020

Anglers often spend countless hours learning how to find and catch fish but spend almost no time in learning how to handle fish for catch/release or keeping them for the table. There are ethical guidelines for how to handle a fish, remove the hook and revive and release it for maximum survival. Fish that are properly handled have a survival rate well of over 90%. This is great to support a long-term thriving fishery and possibly lead to the next trophy fish. It is also important to properly prepare fish that are to be kept for dinner to maximize quality and safety at the table.

Fish Handling

How an angler can handle a fish for successful catch/release depends on the size and type of fish. Smaller fish such as panfish or small porgies can be handled more easily and released more simply than larger bass or bluefish. Catch and release fishing is a key component to maintaining a successful fishery. A few key points are:

Land the fish as quickly as possible. It is detrimental to prolong a fight if you plan to release the fish. If you can’t land the fish quickly you should consider using heavier gear.
Decide before you land the fish if you plan on keeping it for the table.
Leave the fish in the water as much as possible. The water provides physical support for the body, dissolved oxygen for respiration and maintains the fishes protective slime coat.
Fish need to be returned to the water as quickly as possible. The longer a fish is out of the water, the lower their survival rate. Blood oxygen deficits and lactic acid build up in fish muscles increase and survival decreases the longer the fish is out of the water.
When holding a larger fish for pictures, it is critical to support the body horizontally and not just suspend it via the gills or lips.

Removing the Hook

The survival of a fish that is released is dependent upon the quick and clean removal of the hook. There are 3 main types of hooks that can be used and they each have a different injury profile for fish. You can read more in-depth information about fish hooks in our article Fish Hooks for Live Bait Fishing.

How to Remove the Hook

When removing a hook it is best to hold the fish firmly and have the hook back out the same way it went in. Extra care is critical for safety when dealing with stronger fish or fish with sharp teeth such as bluefish, sharks in saltwater or pike and muskies in freshwater. Hook removal tools such as a hemostat, needle nose pliers or specialized hook removal devices are very effective. Here is a video of successfully removing a deep hook from a largemouth bass with minimal damage. From my view, this angler should have done this more quickly and released the fish.

When a hook is deeply embedded it is often best to cut the line/leader close to the fishes mouth rather than forcibly removing the hook. There was a study by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute on survival of deeply hooked fish. Fish that were released with the line being cut had a 100% survival rate and fish where the hook was removed died 30% of the time.

There are times that depending where the hook has penetrated that successful removal and survival of the fish is not possible. If fish are hooked where there is damage to the gills or eyes the survival rate drops dramatically and the angler should consider keeping the fish if it is legal, based upon state regulations and limits.

Hooks and Their Impact on Fish Survival

Treble Hook

Treble hooks are most often used on lures and plugs. They are the worst hooks for fish survival due to their multi-hook design and barbs. Many concerned anglers replace treble hooks on lures with single J or barbless hooks.

“J” Hook

This is the standard type of hook that most anglers use. It is the most injury prone hook.

Barbless Hook

This is a hook where the barb is either crushed down or removed. A barbless hook is in the middle ground for injury on fish as it can be more easily removed than a J hook.

Circle Hook

A circle hook is the easiest hook to remove from a fish. It also can dramatically minimize deep or gut hooked fish. Circle hooks are so effective in increasing fish survival rates, that many states have mandated the use of circle hooks especially when using cut or live bait when fishing. There are 2 types of circle hook – inline and offset. Inline circle hooks are the most effective at minimizing injury to fish and are often specified in state regulations.

As of January 2021, new striped bass regulations require the use of non-offset circle hooks by all recreational anglers when targeting striped bass with any kind of live or dead natural bait.

Fish Revive and Release

Once the hook is properly removed, the fish needs to be revived in order to survive when released. If the fish is strong and not depleted physically during the fight, it can be released by placing the fish gently back in the water and watching it swim away. This can also be much more complex and time consuming if the fish was overly stressed or brought up from deep water.

Reviving and releasing deep water fish requires special care due to the change in pressure from the depths to the surface. Any fish caught at depths greater than 30 feet will have some effects with fish from deeper water experiencing worse impacts. The signs of barometric trauma include: stomach protrusion or bulging, bulging eyes or similar visual clues. If fish are released in this state without taking remedies they will die.

Fish Depth Release

The preferred method for releasing fish that are caught from deep depths is to quickly release them at the depth they were caught. There are commercial tools such as Seaqualizer, which can return a fish to proper depth and release it.

You can also create a DIY tool for releasing fish at depth similar to this picture. The heavy barbless hook jig and weight can be hooked in the lower jaw to lower the fish to the proper depth. Then the angler quickly pulls the line and frees the fish.

Fish Venting

Fish venting is a more controversial method of dealing with fish release from deep water. When done properly this very successful, but when done improperly it causes the fish additional damage. Venting should only be used on fish that are having obvious barometric trauma as described above. A large hollow needle is inserted in the swim bladder to allow air to escape for a minute or two. This will allow the fish to be release successfully.

Here is a video from SaltStrong about how to effectively handle and release fish. Properly Land, Handle, Revive, and Release Fish

Fish for Dinner

Many anglers fish in order to provide excellent table fare for themselves and their families. While fish are at their peak quality when freshly caught, there are ways for the angler to extend freshness for best taste and texture when the fish is eaten. To keep fish at their best consider the following:

Have a cooler with ice ready before you go fishing. The quicker a fish is on ice, the better the quality.
Don’t use a live well and try to keep fish alive. Live wells are meant for bait. A stressed fish, even if alive, degrade faster than a fish that is dispatched and put on ice.
While it might seem barbaric, quickly “bleeding” the fish is a humane and effective way to handle fish you are going to keep. Here is a video on the proper technique.

How To Bleed Saltwater Fish (For Cleaner Fish Fillets)

It is best to have the fish on the ice and not submerged in melted ice water.

Brooklyn Fishing Club is a NYC-based fishing organization that focuses on environmentally conscious, urban fishing. The Club has 3 rules that its members commit to as follows:

Leave the place you fish cleaner than you found it.
If you kill a fish it must be eaten.
Take a picture of your catch or it never happened.

Rule #2, is very important for the maintenance of a long term successful fishery. If you kill a fish (within legal limits and methods), it is required that you eat it. Some fish species are are not highly regarded as table fare, but are very good to eat. YouTube is full of fish catch/cook videos for many fish species such as trigger fish, oyster toad fish, and sea robins that are often not considered edible. I have tried some of these and found them quite tasty. For those that have other results, it could be due to improper handling or preparation.

SUMMARY

There is frequently conflict between state fisheries departments and recreational anglers relating to regulations and catch limits. The bottom line is that both groups have the same goal – a thriving long-term fishery. Anglers can do their part by following the rules and using proper techniques for handling and releasing fish. Remember, 90% of the fish you release will survive and could be a future trophy catch!

Please send pictures of your fishing success. You can contact me by email at [email protected].

Tight lines … Captain P.

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