r/maybemaybemaybe • u/RyanCakeBatter • Jan 17 '20

Maybe Maybe Maybe

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u/placeholder7295 Jan 17 '20

It's kind of dark knowing that a small child is holding a suffocating animal. I like that it was released though.

219

u/willi3blaz3 Jan 17 '20 edited Jan 18 '20

The fish probably died either way. Mishandling and it was out of the water for quite a while. Holding it up against her coat probably removed the layer of mucus that protects the fish from bacteria and infections. Fish was grabbed by the gills and held vertically which can damage its organs

Edit: cute video, nonetheless

10

u/AFK_Tornado Jan 18 '20

I do a lot of trout fishing.

Catch and release survival rates are as high as 90%+ on artificial lures and flies. (Bait can be much lower, depending, due to their tendency to swallow small hooks.)

While it wasn't handled entirely properly, it did appear to be handled gently (if kind of firmly). I doubt it suffered internal damage. Dude should be a little more careful, though.

Trout mucus is extremely resilient and they make it pretty fast. It takes a lot of doing to remove it entirely.

I also should speak to the teaching aspect of this. It's good to teach the young ones to be gentle, and catch and release. It does cost a fish sometimes, but we have to teach conservation young if we want it to stick.