Recreational angling affects the welfare of millions of fish annually through hooking injuries, air exposure, and physiological stress from the catch-and-release experience.
Fish welfare in recreational angling has received increasing scientific attention following evidence that fish are sentient beings capable of experiencing pain and stress. The catch-and-release experience involves multiple welfare impacts: the pain of hooking, the physiological stress of fighting and exhaustion, air exposure during handling, and the disorientation of release. Best practice guidelines — use of barbless hooks, minimising air exposure, using wet hands, not squeezing fish — significantly reduce welfare costs. The debate over whether to fish at all for catch-and-release continues, but substantial improvements in practice are available for those who do.