Catch-and-release fishing is widely practiced as an ethical alternative to killing fish. However, the welfare implications of capture, handling, and release require careful consideration.
Catch-and-release fishing reduces the certainty of death compared to kill fisheries, but the welfare assumption that released fish suffer minimal harm requires scrutiny. Capture involves fear responses, physical exertion to exhaustion, tissue damage from hooks, and the acute stress of air exposure. Post-release, fish face elevated predation risk due to impaired escape capacity from lactic acid accumulation. For some species and in some conditions, post-release mortality is substantial. The welfare case for catch-and-release depends entirely on whether best practices are followed: minimizing fight time, keeping fish in water during unhooking, using barbless hooks, and releasing in cool water all significantly improve outcomes. Anglers who treat fish as deserving of care rather than as objects to be played make meaningful welfare choices.