Deezel:

Not to nit pic but if I catch six and release six and two die; and another guy catches two and keeps two, what's the difference? It does happen. I've seen it more than once.

A lot of strict C&R guys assume all C&K guys catch & kill their limit. I know that to be NOT always true. I do know that on most days I fish I release a lot more fish than the average bait fisherman next to me who is planning a meal with his catch. I therefore believe that on those days that I do well, like one day last week when I caught & released 16 trout; I have to believe (based on C&R mortality rates in studies I've read), that I may have killed more than the guy at the bridge who caught one that day.

While I don't disagree that C&K is a guarantee of death; I do KNOW that C&R isn't a guarantee of life. Which is why I think any study which assumes it is, doesn't make sense. Strict C&R guys kill fish too; they just don't like to admit it.