Mortality rate of released fish

Tim Higham, an associate professor at UCR who has done a great deal of research on the impact of catch and release on game fish had some thoughts about mortality rates in those fish being released. "There have been studies that have just looked at post release mortality and it can be as high as 67%. That's all fish that are put back who die but it depends on the species. Some are very robust. Bass I think are pretty successful, they are a good example where I think they are going to be better at surviving after they are released but some are quite sensitive. Taking a fish out of its environment and handling it and injuring it a little bit with the hook of course has to have some impact. But some will live and so that's better than taking it out and killing it which will guarantee its survival rate. Certainly as a way of trying to maintain fish stocks, releasing fish after being caught is the best thing we can do at this point. Certainly I don't propose that we stop fishing but when it comes to hook size, if it doesn't matter to the angler whether it be large or small, smaller is better."