It is a sad fact that some anglers are mishandling their catches leading to possible permanent damage.
Not Just Perch
I should make it clear that although this abusive maltreatment is not limited to Perch, in Europe more and more anglers are treating mainly Perch in this damaging way.
I am refering to the irresponsable way that some anglers hold fish with their thumb in it’s mouth for photographs.
Long Term Damage
I have no idea why anybody should abuse fish in this way but it often causes damage to the jaw membrane in the mouth and results in long term damage to spinal alignment (ref. Study by Gould & Grace, 2009).
Abuse May Lead to Fish Death
When damaged in this way a fish’s ability to hunt is greatly impared as is it’s ability to avoid other predators and so the fish is not likely to survive for long.
Examples
The following examples of fish abuse were found on the popular Angler’s social network Fish Surfing (fishsurfing.com).
I would like to mention that the publication by Fishsurfing of images of fish abuse is not limited to these examples – in the past few weeks we have found more than 50 similar examples on the app.
All occurences have been reported to the administrators of the app however, all reports have been ignored and they continue to publish such images.
I’m sure that Fishsurfing is not the only publication containing such images, but they have been made aware and refuse to take action.
YPC Bank UK Promotes Fish Maltreatment?
Well, this will show us all that the promotion of Perch maltreatment is not limited to the Fishsurfing app.
The YPC Bank UK championship is a predator fish competition published on YouTube by the Pike & Perch channel.
I wouldn’t have expected any of the anglers involved in this series to be guilty of fish abuse and I wouldn’t have expected the organisers, sponsors or broadcasters to promote this abuse. But…
YPC, LMAB and Pike & Perch Support Dan Bucknall’s Fish Abuse on YouTube
Yes, it’s sad but true. Big names in the fishing and online publishing world seem to be promoting the maltreatment of fish – YPC, LMAB, YouTube, …
I just find this disgusting – this content just influences young anglers to believe that maltreatment of our wildlife is not only OK and acceptable, but that it’s cool.
Correct Handling
In the following photograph (also from Fishsurfing) you can see an example of the correct handling.
In this image, the angler is holding the fish carefully, close to the ground and is showing the fish the respect it deserves as well as ensuring that the fish can be returned to the water safely and with the minimum stress.