CCA News
 

Catch-and-Release of Spotted Seatrout - This CCA-sponsored study investigated the mortality for hook-and-line-captured spotted seatrout as a function of bait type, hook type, angler skill level, fish size, and live-release tournaments. A relatively low overall short-term mortality for all treatments was observed with the majority of fish surviving. These data suggest that management options involving the release of spotted seatrout, including release of fish are viable management tools.

Is this the same thing LSU did in Big Lake?

Real-time movement patterns of Spotted Seatrout – “Wiring the Texas Coast” – A state-of-the-art acoustic network is being installed in the bays/lagoons from Port Mansfield to Aransas Pass, Texas, that can track spotted seatrout (or any species) that have been surgically implanted with special tags. This is Phase I of a larger project to “wire” the entire Texas coast. Driving this study is the fact that inlets such as the Port Mansfield Channel and Cedar Bayou in Texas have historically provided water exchange between the Gulf of Mexico and its estuaries, and there has been much recent concern over the rapid closure of theses inlets due to sedimentation. The closing of these channels may impact many recreational fishery species that require access to the bays via these inlets. The CCA and HRI are partnering to use acoustic tracking, field sampling, and otolith- and genetic-based techniques assess migration patterns of spotted seatrout.

The first part is a study TX A&M did on survival rate of trout. Here's a short blip on it:


"What happens when you release a speck? Does it swim away and thrive or swim away and die? These questions keep Greg Stunz up at night. So Stunz, a marine biologist at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, devised an experiment to find some answers.
Stunz, with the help of some recruited anglers, caught hundreds of seatrout off North Carolina, using various types of hooks. The fish were then held in cages under docks for three days. After the three days, here's some of what Stunz found out:
[SIZE=2]Trout showed a 90-percent survival rate.
Size doesn't matter. Mortality rates for small and large fish were similar.
Where the fish was hooked determined its chances of survival after release.
Experience does matter. Veteran anglers released more trout successfully than rookie anglers did. [/SIZE]What's more encouraging, Stunz told reporters, is the fish survived a considerable amount of handling. "If you release the fish on the spot, I can imagine that the mortality rate is going to be even less."

The second part is what we did here on Big Lake. Glad they are doing it too. The more research the better!

this is a perfect example of why i asked for pointers on releasin fish!!!!!!!