Catch and Release, little known facts about Handling Salmon

Owing to dwindling stocks of Atlantic Salmon and Sea Trout, here in the UK Catch and Release [C&R] has recently become much more popular. On recently glancing over a new Leaflet, I noted under the section – Recording your Catch, the statement below.

“Support your fish gently under the belly”!?

Above is fine if fish are fresh, caught early in the season, but coloured or gravid fish caught close to spawning [September on] should not be removed from the water at all. Reason –

Development of eggs is accompanied by a substantial reduction in muscle tissue around the belly of a Hen Salmon, leaving little or no protection to the now fully developed eggs. If held in this manner, eggs are potentially damaged by the effects of gravity; therefore, we should encourage anglers to photograph such fish, only, if being properly supported in the water away from the effects of gravity.

To a certain extent, the above applies to Salmon, irrespective of their condition, but, for the reason above, is much more applicable to fish being caught late in the season. However, there are pro’s and con’s to handling all salmon.

The Scales of Fresh fish are easily damaged by mishandling, whilst scales on autumn fish are much more difficult to damage. However, the mucus film which covers all fish [the one that dogs like to lick off], seems to become more important the longer the fish spends in fresh water. It would seem, the longer the fish spends in freshwater, the more important the the role of this mucus layer.
We have all seen fish, marked by Seals or Dolphins, which incredibly in some cases, heal over very quickly, causing the salmon very little, if any problems. However, the opposite seems to be the case for fish which have spent some time in fresh water, and seem more open to fungal infection if this layer of mucus is damaged. Add to this, many fish in close proximity to one another, as may be witnessed on spawning redds, and the cocktail is there for the spreading of any fungal disease. Thankfully, by this time, and I stress “By this time” [spawning time] the job of the salmon is complete and fungal disease very natural for the salmon, is all part of the process of dying, so providing nutrients for the next generation. If however, we handle, particularly Hen Fish which are close to spawning, in the wrong manner prior to release, then unwittingly, we could be party to, not only the premature death before spawning, but also, the spread of disease in our rivers at an unatural time.

There are some who will sceptical of the above, but this is not theory, I have seen this with my eyes when watching what happened to fish which had been improperly handled whilst being caught up for the hatchery. Fish which had no sign of disease, held in unnaturally high densities prior to stripping, would develop fungal disease, always on the parts of their bodies where they had been handled, and within two days, all fish in the tank had marks on their tails and around their gills. This was put down to disturbance of the mucus layer which protects fish, particularly so in fresh water.
So, I would encourage everyone to think about this when taking photos of older or gravid fish.
If you must take a photo, please leave the fish in the water!!