Catch-and-release angling is widely practised as a conservation-friendly fishing method, but its welfare implications for fish are more significant than many anglers recognise.
Catch-and-release fishing occupies a morally complex position: it is better than catch-and-kill from a conservation standpoint, yet it still imposes welfare costs on individual fish. The hook penetrates sensitive tissue, the fight to exhaustion depletes oxygen and builds lactic acid, air exposure causes hypoxia and surface damage, and handling removes the protective mucus layer. These are real welfare insults for animals that, we now know with much greater confidence, have the neurobiological capacity for pain and stress. Welfare-conscious catch-and-release practice minimises these harms: barbless hooks, short fights, hands-wet-before-touching, and immediate return without air exposure all reduce harm significantly. The question of whether any catch-and-release is justifiable is contested in welfare ethics; the least we can do is minimise the harm we cause.