Mortality associated with catch and release of striped bass in the Hudson River |
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| Authors: | M J Millard S A Welsh J W Fletcher J Mohler A Kahnle & K Hattala |
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| Institution: | USFWS, Northeast Fishery Center, Lamar, PA, USA; USFWS, Maryland Fisheries Resources Office, Annapolis, MD, USA; USFWS, Northeast Fishery Center, Lamar, PA, USA; NYDEC, Hudson River Fisheries Unit, New Paltz, NY, USA |
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| Abstract: | Catch‐and‐release fishing has increased in many fisheries, but its contribution to fishing mortality is rarely estimated. This study estimated catch and release mortality rates of striped bass, Morone saxatilis (Walbaum), for the spring recreational fishery in the Hudson River. Treatment fish (caught with live bait on spinning gear) and control fish (captured by electric fishing) were placed in in situ holding pens for 5 days. Mortality rates were estimated using conditional instantaneous mortality rates and additive finite mortality rates. Influences of variables (playing and handling time, hook location, degree of bleeding and fish length) on hooking mortality rates were examined by logistic regression. Conditional instantaneous mortality rates and additive finite mortality rates were 31 and 28%, respectively. Hook location significantly affected the survival of striped bass. Angling catch, effort, and release rates must be integrated with associated hooking mortality rates before this component of overall population mortality can be incorporated into management decisions. |
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| Keywords: | catch and release fishing hooking mortality striped bass management |
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