The current study investigated how the gastric evacuation rate (GER) was affected after surgically introducing dummies of a blood flow biotelemetry system into the abdominal cavity of Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua. Gastric evacuation experiments were performed two and 10 days postsurgery on surgically implanted and control G. morhua force-fed sandeel, Ammodytes tobianus. The results were compared with previously obtained estimates from unstressed conspecifics voluntarily feeding on a similar diet. After two days, GER was significantly lower in the group of fish with the dummy implants compared with the control group, but following 10 days of recovery no significant difference was seen between the two groups. The difference between implanted and control fish observed two days postsurgery may have resulted either from surgery, postsurgical stress and/or the presence of the implant. The conclusion is that 10 days of postsurgical recovery will stabilize GER in G. morhua, thus indicating that at this point the implant per se did not affect GER. Both the fish with surgical implants and controls in this study evacuated their stomachs much slower and with much higher interindividual variation compared with G. morhua feeding voluntarily on similar prey items. The lower GER and higher interindividual variation for force-fed fish indicate that handling, anaesthetization and force-feeding impair GER and that individual fish respond differently to the suppressing effects. Invasive procedures are often necessary for the physiologist to understand the mechanisms behind various physiological parameters. In fish, measurements of cardiovascular parameters such as blood flow and blood pressure involve handling, anaesthesia and surgical implantation of catheters and flow probes in and around vessels and sutures to close the incisions. In traditional laboratory experiments, standard bench top blood pressure and blood flow measuring units are used, which means that the animals are 'hardwired' to the equipment during the experiments. Catheters and leads from flow probes penetrate the body wall and increase the risk of infection. Furthermore, to prevent tangling and ripping of wires the animals are most often confined in small containers, which severely limit the range over which they can move with the risk of introducing confinement stress. The animals are usually left for 18 -48 h before experimentation is initiated, the main reason for such shorts periods being the high risk of infection after an extensive surgery.1 In cases where catheters are used, limits on the time where these will remain open may also be decisive. However, unless appropriate recovery time is ensured following surgical procedures and instrumentation, major concerns are the validity of data and ethical considerations. In a study on rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss using bioelectric potential recordings to measure heart rate, fH (i.e. a non-invasive method) the fish were handled and then left to recover for at least three days after which their basal heart r...