Do fish survive being released?

Posted December 6, 2022

** SHARED POST from Crispin Middleton of NIWA…well worth a read and watch!!!

Do snapper survive when we throw them back?

Recreational fishers catch around 4000 tons of snapper each year. These are the fish we take home, but roughly 5-6 times that number are released. Most released snapper are small fish below the minimum legal size. If you have ever stood on the side of a boat and wondered about the survival of these small fish, you are not alone. NIWA and Fisheries New Zealand along with Ngati Kuta and Legasea have been involved in researching the survival of snapper that get returned to the ocean by recreational fishing.

“If we all released one more fish alive. Then in a year that could total hundreds of thousands of fish” Sam Woolford – LegaSea

Fishing tips: what can you do to help survival

-Use recurve hooks. – Use squash barbs on hooks.

-Carefully handle the fish using microfibre cloths.

-Avoid touching the eyes or gills.

-Quickly return to the water.

-When fishing at depth, use release weights to return them to the same depth they were caught.