I almost forgot about Science Wednesday. By that, I mean to say I totally forgot about Science Wednesday, but I figure slightly delayed is still pretty good.
So… let’s talk about what happens to those C&R bonefish. It turns out they stink. They stink no so you or I would notice, but if you were say, a Negaprion brevirostris, you would likely take notice. That’s a lemon shark and while you might like lemon with your fish, it turns out that the lemon has a bit of a taste for fish as well. In this case, it is stinky bonefish they are partial to.
You catch a fish, the fish gets stressed and it releases some chemicals. I had thought that chemical was cortisol, but it turns out that particular chemical is too weak to detect. The ammonia and urea, on the other hand are put out there in quantities that scream “Here I am, come eat me!”
This is why bonefish handling is so important. You need to minimize the fight time and air exposure so that fish is capable of doing what it needs to do when it gets release, which is going really fast to get away from young lemon sharks who are attracted to the chemical neon sign that fish is putting out reading “Bonefish, all you can eat (supplies limited).”
One of the authors of this study is Andy Danylchuk.
Thanks for the pull. Sorry it didn’t work out.
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Tags: Andy Danylchuk, bonefish, catch and release, fly fishing, science Wednesday
