Angling for the Future (Brochure)

"Fish released today survive for angling opportunities tomorrow."

To order a printed copy of this brochure, please email  pacdfocommunication@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

Non-retention in the fisheries management tool box

In North America, the practice of hooking and releasing fish is an old one; anglers have been doing it for more than 100 years and the benefits have been many. Whatever the name - non-retention or "catch and release" - the practice is one of conservation and an important part of recreational fisheries management in British Columbia.

For management and conservation

The survival of Pacific salmon matters to many anglers--and non-retention is one way to help ensure that survival. Fisheries and Oceans Canada uses non-retention as a management tool because it works. It has been clearly demonstrated that a high proportion of sport caught-and-released salmon survive.

In British Columbia, regulations that require fish of a certain size or species to be released are significant management and conservation measures used in the recreational fishery. In many cases, without the practice of non-retention, large areas would have to be closed to fishing. Regulations for minimum size limits allow the opportunity for young salmon to mature and spawn or reach a larger size before harvesting.

Released salmon do survive

Survival Rates of Coho and Chinook
(greater than 11.8 inches)
Using both barbed and barbless hooks.

• COHO
  30 to 55 cm 90 - 95%
• CHINOOK
  35 to 100 cm 85 - 90%
• CHINOOK
  100 to 140 cm - 85%

Studies show that the majority of sport - caught and released salmon survive

Over the past ten years, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and other agencies have conducted a series of hooking mortality studies of sport-caught chinook and coho salmon. The results show survival rates as high as 85% to 95% using both barbed and barbless hooks.

For an accurate representation of real fishing conditions, volunteer angers, from novice to pro, were used in the studies. However, fish caught in the studies were subjected to more stress than they would have experienced under normal sport fishing situations. Once hooked, the time taken to land the fish was recorded, the fish was unhooked, identifies, measured, examined for injury and tagged. They were then placed in holding tanks and/or transferred to net pens for 24 hours or longer (previous research shows that 95% of fish mortality occurs in the first 24 hours).

The survival rate of larger salmon caught on barbed hooks was similar to the survival of those caught on barbless hooks. In research conducted in B.C. waters, the high survival rate of larger chinook caught on barbed hooks was similar to research on chinook and coho in Washington State where results showed 90% survival for chinook caught on single barbless hooks.

In addition to these studies, tagging programs also indicate successful survival of released fish. More than 20,000 chinook salmon have been hooked, tagged and released over the past seven years by angers and commercial trollers in a voluntary tagging program. Tag recoveries of these fish, both in the ocean and on the spawning grounds indicate a high survival rate.

Releasing your fish

Studies in the Strait of Georgia and elsewhere show that salmon are hardier fish than once believed and will survive considerable handling. On average, it takes about ten minutes to land a salmon. By bringing your fish in quickly and using simple, but effective releasing techniques, you can increase its chances of survival.

Techniques to remember:

• Do not exhaust a salmon when "playing" it on the line, bring it in quickly.
• For a salmon under 30 cm, unhook it at the water surface with a minimum of handling.
• For a larger salmon, it it is too difficult to unhook in the water, bring it onboard, remove the hook quickly and release it. This will cause less stress and damage.
• Remove the hook with needle-nose pliers or surgical hemostats.
• Barbless hooks are much easier to remove and pliers are rarely needed.
• To minimize scale loss use a soft knotless mesh net. Handle the fish securely. Keep it immobile while the hook is removed and quickly release it into the water.
• To avoid injury, support the fish when lifting by placing one hand around the base of its tail and the other under its belly. Do not lift it by the tail as this will stretch the vertebrae.
• To return the fish to water, release it at a 45° angle with the head pointing down and just above the waterline. If the fish is exhausted, revive it in the water by keeping a grip on its tail; wait until it is strong enough to swim out of your hands.
• Use large lures or artificial baits to reduce the incidental catch of undersize fish.
• Some fish may be hooked deep inside the mouth. If this is the case, cut the line as close to the hook as possible and leave it in. The hook will erode in time

Did you know?

• Barbless hooks are often more effective in hooking fish; setting a barbless hook in a fish's jaw takes less than half the force required to set a barbed hook.
• To change a barbed hook to a barbless one, simply squeeze the barb against the hook shank with a pair of pliers.
• Make it easy to measure your fish - mark your boat seat or floor with the proper lengths.
• Scales are important to fish; however, they can survive some scale loss.
• Remember: fish can bleed and still survive.

Catch the fish... Keep the memories...

Take your prize home in a photograph. It's no secret that "going fishing" means more to most anglers than just taking a big one home. It's the whole experience. Once you've removed the hook, cradle the belly of the fish with one hand and hold the tail with the other. Snap the shutter and keep the memory. Remember: act fast. The quicker a fish is released back into the water, the better its chances of survival.