Catch and Release Mortality

[Silver Creek]

Silver,

The numbers of large trout will always decrease fastest, regardless of the reason for any mortality. Even if the cause of death is spread evenly across all age ranges, the larger fish will show more decline simply because to become a larger fish, you have to be a smaller one first.

Buddy

Hi Buddy,

I understand that there are fewer large fish than smaller fish from natural mortality as they grow.

What I am addressing is something different. I am asking whether all age and size classes of fish show the same percentage decrease with C & R. If the larger fish with C & R are disappearing from the river at a higher rate than smaller fish, I am asking why. I am asking whether all the size classes of fish show the same decrease.

The study is incomplete if it says that the larger fish are disappearing, but does not say why. They assume it is C & R alone and I think it could be poaching. I am saying it cannot be C & R alone UNLESS they absolutely rule out poaching. It seems to me that the larger fish are harder to catch, so they should be caught less often that smaller fish - ie, they should be caught less often per year than a smaller fish. Hence I think they should have a higher and not a lower rate of survival.

Perhaps I am not getting why a larger fish being a smaller fish first means than a fish that grows to be large should die at a faster rate due to C&R. Have they not proved by surviving to be larger fifsh that they are genetically superior to the average smaller fish? So they should be more robust adn not less.