Fishing Blind: Building a Case for the Development and Communication of Species-Specific Guidelines for Catch-and-Release

Catch-and-release is popular for many angled species.  Sometimes fish are released voluntarily due to angler conservation ethic and in other cases fish are released to comply with formal regulations.  No matter the reason for release, guidelines for capture, handling, and release should be developed to ensure the intended outcome of catch-and-release – maximize survival and minimize impacts to fish fitness.  While general catch-and-release guidelines exist and are made available by fish and wildlife agencies, catch-and-release methods, promotion, education, implementation, and enforcement can be improved.  Although a growing body of research is revealing that impacts and stressors associated with catch-and-release can be species-specific, very few government and non-government agencies provide species-specific best practices.  Through marketing, the trade sector may also play an important role in conservation of recreational fisheries via the display of best practices, yet more work is needed to ensure that the practices they share are consistent with science-based guidelines for catch-and-release.  With the Internet, smart phones, and social media, recreational anglers are actively sharing their angling experiences more broadly, while at the same time these platforms present new mechanisms for conveying species-specific best practices that may help change social norms related to angler behavior and how they catch-and-release.