Releasing Mackerel

[jonny_s]

Not saying anyone is wrong, I am all for fish welfare but there are even statements like this from an ex defra marine scientist

" Mackerel deaths through "handling" vastly exaggerated scientific myth "

which make me wonder if this is a bit blown out of proportion.

I have read evidence of fish being carefully handled ( bare hands ) tagged and released back into the sea and surviving months. I have also read evidence of fish being handled and kept in a bucket or tank and dying, this is hardly a fair experiment. Most of my goldfish from the town moor hoppings died when I put them in a tank once they were removed from their plastic bag natural environment they always went belly up.

Its an interesting subject, I think I will check if the rest of the mackerel family are cursed with fragile skin.

[wavy davy]

Just checked my diary as I keep a record of all my fishing trips, tide, bait, time, rigs etc and I caught my first one from Shields pier on the 29th May last year.

[Jeffrob445]

I'm currently waiting for the library to get me copies of the cited papers, however, having managed to find synopses of them on the web, most of the papers seem to refer to overcrowded fish in nets, which are a completely different set of circumstances to an individual fish on a hook...
I'm a biologist by the way.

[lumpsucker]

Just checked my diary as I keep a record of all my fishing trips, tide, bait, time, rigs etc and I caught my first one from Shields pier on the 29th May last year.

There was a couple of kids bashing away there on monday night without any joy! They said they'd heard they were in! :-)

[loopy]

Jeffrob445 this is part of a reply from CEFAS on the same question asked by anglers a couple of years agoI and have a number of publications showing the results of all this work.

These are:

Lockwood, S. J., Pawson, M.G. and Mumford, B.C., 1977. "Effects of holding mackerel at different densities in nets of various sizes." M.A.F.F., Fish. Res. Tech. rep. No. 33, 10 pp


Pawson, M. G. and Lockwood, S. J., 1980. "Mortality of mackerel following physical stress, and its probable cause." I.C.E.S. rapp. proc. verb., 177: 439-443.


Holeton, G. F., M.G. Pawson & Shelton, G., 1982. "Gill ventilation, gas exchange and survival in the Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus L.)." Can. J. Zool, 60: 1141-1147.


Lockwood, S. J., M. G. Pawson and D. Eaton., 1983. "The effects of crowding on mackerel (Scomber scombrus L) - physical condition and mortality". Fisheries Research, 2: 129-147.


So, when anglers have caught enough mackerel for a fry or for bait, they should stop fishing for them unless they are using barbless hooks and can return the fish to the water without touching them.

[LiamNE]

Thanks for your input lads

[Jeffrob445]

Jeffrob445 this is part of a reply from CEFAS on the same question asked by anglers a couple of years agoI and have a number of publications showing the results of all this work.

These are:

Lockwood, S. J., Pawson, M.G. and Mumford, B.C., 1977. "Effects of holding mackerel at different densities in nets of various sizes." M.A.F.F., Fish. Res. Tech. rep. No. 33, 10 pp


Pawson, M. G. and Lockwood, S. J., 1980. "Mortality of mackerel following physical stress, and its probable cause." I.C.E.S. rapp. proc. verb., 177: 439-443.


Holeton, G. F., M.G. Pawson & Shelton, G., 1982. "Gill ventilation, gas exchange and survival in the Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus L.)." Can. J. Zool, 60: 1141-1147.


Lockwood, S. J., M. G. Pawson and D. Eaton., 1983. "The effects of crowding on mackerel (Scomber scombrus L) - physical condition and mortality". Fisheries Research, 2: 129-147.


So, when anglers have caught enough mackerel for a fry or for bait, they should stop fishing for them unless they are using barbless hooks and can return the fish to the water without touching them.

Until I get the papers on inter library loan.... Sorry, but with my scientist hat firmly on, I'll reserve my final judgement till I've read the whole paper(s), I'm not disagreeing, it's just I'm not agreeing either!
My own instinct is that a hell of a lot of released mackerel do die, not due to handling, per se, rather due to being unable to recoup the massive amount of energy they expend in a relatively short time - they simply do not have the reserves left to fully function.
It wuld be interesting to look at the differences in mortality between fish caught on feathers (generally have little time to fight) and those caught individually (generally have a long fight).
I do fully agree with the barbless hooks and taking only what you need. I now only use circle hooks for all my angling, as greater than 95% of my catch is hooked in the scissors and as such is easily and quickly released, yes I accept, that I probably miss more fish than with conventional hooks, but I value the ability to unhook and release an unwanted fish as quickly as possible over hooking every bite.