Stewardship Tip 29th Jun 2010- Keep the Fish in the Water
And you let the worm just drift down,” the host of the fishing show said. He held a nice, freshly-caught, bass in his left hand. “By rigging the hook right through the middle of the worm,” the host continued, using the fish as a prop to point to the worm, “you have a rig that works well in clear water.”
I kept thinking to myself, “put the fish back in the @#$%^& water” as the host rambled on, all the time using the fish as his prop to amplify his points. A full minute elapsed before the host tossed the fish, unceremoniously, back in the water.
Who knows what fate that fish met. What we do know is that it was deprived of oxygen for almost a minute. Sure, there have been cases, in the laboratory, where fish have survived after being out of water for 120 seconds. But, do we want the fish that we release to merely survive?
No! We want the fish we release to thrive!
We give a fish its best chance to thrive if we land it rapidly, handle it carefully, resuscitate it, and keep it in the water! Study after study has shown that minimizing the time a fish is kept out of water, minimizes the risk of mortality.
When we keep the fish in the water, we keep oxygen running across its gills. With oxygen running across its gills, a fish recovers quickly and will not suffer ill-effects of oxygen deprivation. According to Steven Cooke, an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Biology at Carleton University, air exposure, if limited to less than 30 seconds, may not be detrimental to largemouth bass. He adds, however, that, if possible, air exposure should be “avoided completely.”
Thrive? Or, Survive? Keep that fish in the water, let it soak up the oxygen and then let it go. You may catch that fish again, or you may catch its offspring. You can increase the chance that a fish will thrive by keeping it in the water.
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Bass Pro Shops are America’s Outdoor Stores. They bring the outdoors to over 78 million visitors every year while supporting of many of the leading conservation organizations.
Through their stores and television productions, countless millions have been reminded that “we all live downstream.”
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