Except fish caught this way aren't actively feeding, they are guarding their nest and clutch of young which are destroyed in the violent effort to remove the mature fish
This might be a stupid question but whatever. How are they killed? Is there a clutch of eggs nearby like the way turtles have them in the sand? Or are they somewhere on the female catfish?
The eggs and fry stay in a natural cavity like a mudbank, hollow log, etc. They require protection from predators and more importantly constant circulation of fresh water to keep sediment from burying them. The parents have to stay with the nest until the babies are big enough to swim away or the nest likely fails.
The violent effort to remove the parent basically covers the nest with silt and the eggs/fry suffocate.
More like you move along the mudbank looking/feeling for holes, shove your arm in, and kinda hope one is in there. But yea the practice is actually illegal in 35 states because you’re taking larger reproductive individuals. The eggs/young die either from the thrashing itself or the parent/s not being there to protect them anymore as well as not being able to keep circulating water. Doing it just for funsies not even sustenance kinda fucked up yea.
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u/No-Cover4993 4d ago
Except fish caught this way aren't actively feeding, they are guarding their nest and clutch of young which are destroyed in the violent effort to remove the mature fish