Sublethal effects of catch-and-release fishing: measuring capture stress, fish impairment, and predation risk using a condition index

Abstract

Campbell, M. D., Patino, R., Tolan, J., Strauss, R., and Diamond, S. L. 2010. Sublethal effects of catch-and-release fishing: measuring capture stress, fish impairment, and predation risk using a condition index. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 513–521. The sublethal effects of simulated capture of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) were analysed using physiological responses, condition indexing, and performance variables. Simulated catch-and-release fishing included combinations of depth of capture and thermocline exposure reflective of environmental conditions experienced in the Gulf of Mexico. Frequency of occurrence of barotrauma and lack of reflex response exhibited considerable individual variation. When combined into a single condition or impairment index, individual variation was reduced, and impairment showed significant increases as depth increased and with the addition of thermocline exposure. Performance variables, such as burst swimming speed (BSS) and simulated predator approach distance (AD), were also significantly different by depth. BSSs and predator ADs decreased with increasing depth, were lowest immediately after release, and were affected for up to 15 min, with longer recovery times required as depth increased. The impairment score developed was positively correlated with cortisol concentration and negatively correlated with both BSS and simulated predator AD. The impairment index proved to be an efficient method to estimate the overall impairment of red snapper in the laboratory simulations of capture and shows promise for use in field conditions, to estimate release mortality and vulnerability to predation.

Release mortality in the red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) fishery: a meta-analysis of 3 decades of research

“…Impairment-scaling metrics that evaluate sublethal effects of CAR fishing, such as reduction of reflex responses, also show similar relationships with water temperature (Diamond and Campbell, 2009;Campbell et al, 2010aCampbell et al, , 2010b. Furthermore, impairment-scaling metrics were linked to increased immediate estimates in at least 2 of those studies.…”

“…Methods for calculating or scaling the level of impairment of fish caused by effects of CAR fishing have proven to be useful for the estimation of release mortality for many species, including walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus, Gadidae), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch, Salmonidae), sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria, Anoplopomatidae), northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra, Pleuronectidae), lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus, Hexagrammidae), Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis, Pleuronectidae), and red snapper (Davis et al, 2001;Davis and Ottmar, 2006;Davis, 2007;Campbell et al, 2010aCampbell et al, , 2010b. The impairment scaling metric for the barotrauma reflex showed a positive logistic relationship between impairment level and immediate estimates of release mortality in the recreational red snapper fishery for both surface-release and caging studies (Campbell et al, 2010a;Diamond and Campbell, 2009).…”

“…The rate at which fish are discarded and quantification of their fate after release are crucial data needs for regional stock assessments in the GOM and south Atlantic. Because of the wide range in reported mortality rates (SEDAR 2 ; Campbell et al 3 ) and the confounding Each method used to derive mortality estimates has its benefits, biases, and shortcomings that require exploration; however, in general, problems are associated with the timing of observation, exclusion of predation, insufficient tag returns, sample size, and artifacts of experimental protocols (Campbell et al, 2010b). Methods used to derive estimates in the red snapper fishery include surface-release observation, caging studies, hyperbaric-chamber simulations, acoustic tagging, and passive tagging (Table 1, Fig.…”

Direct observation of fishing effort, catch, and discard rates of charter boats targeting reef fishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico

“…Significant depth-related discard mortality precludes the use of slot size limits in red snapper management (Rummer, 2007;Campbell et al, 2010;SEDAR5;Campbell et al, 2014). A first fish rule would allow vessels to retain all fishes caught until a singleor multiple-species daily bag limit is reached.…”

Use of external Indicators to Evaluate Stress of Largemouth (Micropterus salmoides) and Smallmouth (M. dolomieu) Bass at Tournaments

“…Using metrics adopted from Davis [21] and Campbell et al [22], we assessed fish for a battery of physical indicators of stress (Table 1) at nine catch-and-release bass tournaments based in Plattsburgh, NY. A typical catch-and-release tournament proceeds as follows: anglers depart from a starting point and spend several hours (up to 8) fishing.…”