I'm Sure Leon wont mind me repeating this taken from anglers net.
Frequently the question of returning mackerel alive appears on the various angling internet forums.
There is a belief by many that once a mackerel has been touched by an anglers hands, even though the fish may swim away energetically, it is doomed.
Something to do with the heat/oil of the anglers hands (where it has been touched can often be seen as a handmark on the fish's skin).
Even though only microscopically damaged, the mackerel's skin continues to break down with death inevitable within 30 hours.
Shaking the fish off the hook or handling with wetted neoprene gloves is said to prevent the problem.
The problem is that when the mackerel shoals are on the beach, anglers will soon catch their self-imposed limit, but can't seem to stop fishing, often changing from feathers to a light spinning outfit and returning every fish they catch.
(If the above is correct, then they are better advised to cease fishing for mackerel and trying for the bass beyond/underneath the shoals perhaps, with less guarantee of catching).
Although this information is widely quoted, I can't find any authoritive reference to such information, although I vaguely mention talking to someone from CEFAS at the Recreational Angling Conference in Cardiff some years back, who confirmed that was the case.
It would be useful to quote an authoritive source to refer people (one way or the other) to when the subject comes up in the future.
Tight Lines - Leon Roskilly
Sea Anglers' Conservation Network (SACN)
SACN Latest:
www.anglers-net.co.uk/sacn/latestlinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline--
Leon,
You are quite correct, and you've come to the right people!
In the late 1970s we carried out several experiments to try to find out why dead mackerel were being found in vast numbers in the SW, co-incident with the purse seine and trawl winter fishery.
The short answer is that the fish died due to skin damage interfering with their ability to maintain osmotic balance, and the skin damage was due to abrasion between crowded fish in the nets.
We found that mackerel caught on barbless hooks and never handled, just dropped into keep tanks or nets, survived quite well if allowed to swim freely, but holding a mackerel caused enough damage to eventually kill it, sometimes two days later.
So, when anglers have caught enough mackerel for a fry or for bait, they should stop fishing for them unless they are using barbless hooks and can return the fish to the water without touching them.
Mike P.
linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline--
Note: The Minimum Landing Size for mackerel is 30cm in the North Sea (that includes quite a bit of the area that anglers may regard as The Channel) and 20cm elsewhere.
It is illegal to retain fish under these sizes eg being used as livebait, and Fisheries Officers will take action if you are found in possession of undersized fish of any species.
(See list of Minimum Landing Sizes at:
www.nfsa.org.uk/ntcg/min_sizes_2002.htmNote that higher local MLS may apply for some specie (ie bass), so check with you local Sea Fisheries Committee if in doubt) "
The thread also did a bit of maths - imagine 200 feather chuckers catching 200 fish a day, thats 40,000 fish a day that will suffer damage or die