• Question from:Ocean

I live on Vancouver Island and a lot of people post pictures of them holding the salmon and other fishes they catch and release. I can't help but think that taking a fish out of water must affect them somehow. So how long can a fish (specifically sockeye salmon if you need an example) stay out of water? Does this have any long or short term effects on the fish?

Thanks for the insight!
Ocean G.

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  • University of Bristol
  • Posts: 560

G’Day O: It is difficult to answer this question. Fish don’t ‘hold their breath’ when out of water - wet gills will allow for some oxygen exchange to occur (and/or some fish have a labyrinth organ which enables them to breathe surface air). Depending on the size of the fish and local conditions (e.g., humidity) it is probably minutes, bearing in mind that the longer the fish is out of water the stress it endures will reduce survival when it is released. Here is a previous link that mentions the stress to catch-and-release fish - http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/answers … p?id=13113