Largemouth/Smallmouth Tournament Bass Kills
Smallmouth bass do die quicker than Largemouth bass, because of hypoxia, sustained low oxygen saturated environments commonly found in aerated tournament boat livewells containing limits of fish during summer tournaments. A reduced tolerance for hypoxia would therefore largely explain why smallmouth bass are less tolerant of summer tournament procedures than largemouth bass.
Increased tournament kills can often be predicted by testing the dissolved oxygen saturations (dissolved oxygen meter) in tournament boat livewells arriving at the weigh-in site containing limits of fish, weigh-in fish bags, weigh-in holding tanks and release boat hauling tanks. These coupled with 5-10 minutes of exacerbating air time during the weigh-in process and ‘How we caught them’ speeches while displaying the fish to the public for photo-ops add to the time. Unlike a quick merciful stunning desensitizing blow to the head, this becomes a slower more stressful suffocating insult scientifically called hypoxia. Hypoxia (medical) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bass tournament fishermen and tournament directors have know from experience for decades that Smallmouth bass tournament mortality is substantially greater than Largemouth bass mortality directly associated with catch and release tournament fishing in the summer. More aeration is not the treatment of choice to correct hypoxia livewell water which is the major killer of captive tournament bass.
Minimal dissolved oxygen saturation requirements for live Smallmouth and Largemouth bass transports have been scientifically tested, identified, established and practiced by all Federal, State, and private fish hatcheries throughout the USA as well as all international live fish transports for decades. Minimal safe dissolved oxygen saturations required for live transports are not cryptic, secret or unknown. Dissolved oxygen saturations can be easily measured with a dissolved oxygen meter, but what’s a Tournament Conservation Director to do if the test the contestant’s boat livewell water that’s full of fish and the DO test results prove to be deadly?
Supplemental compressed oxygen or LOX used during live fish transport is the treatment of choice and is used extensively to reverse and correct hypoxia for professional live fish transports when fish health and post release survival is the real issue.
“Respiratory and Circulatory Responses to Hypoxia in
Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth Bass: Implications for ‘‘Live-Release’’ Angling Tournaments”
http://fishlab.nres.uiuc.edu/Documents/TAFS%20Furimsky%20et%20al%202003.pdf
Abstract
The results of the present study also have important implications for fisheries’ management. In our experience, hypoxia [low dissolved oxygen saturation during tournament captivity] is one of the most significant factors contributing to fish mortality during live-release angling tournaments.
When adequate precautions are not taken, hypoxia may occur at any of several different stages at these events, including live well holding, bag confinement, weigh-in air exposure, and the holding tanks of the live-release vessels used to disperse the fish at the end of the event.
Since angling tournaments normally target the largest fish in a given system, tournaments that include smallmouth bass should take extra precautions to ensure that sufficient oxygen levels are provided at each stage of the event.
In the future, tournament organizers and fisheries managers should develop guidelines for appropriate oxygen thresholds based on the needs of smallmouth bass, rather than those of largemouth bass, in regions where these two species coexist.
MAROSH FURIMSKY, Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 Canada
STEVEN J. COOKE, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences,
University of Illinois and Center for Aquatic Ecology, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA
CORY D. SUSKI, YUXIANG WANG, AND BRUCE L. TUFTS*, Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 Canada
Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 132:1065–1075, 2003
Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2003
Acknowledgments
We thank Mr. Aaron Lerner, Director of Publications, American Fisheries Society, 5410 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814, ph: (301) 897-8616 (ext 231), www.fisheries.org for granting permission to post the title, authors, excerpt, and link to the TAFS article on The Oxygen Edge™ website.
Summing it all Up
Scientific research, fish physiology facts and the application of scientific knowledge provide an opportunity for all catch and release tournament fishermen and tournament organizers to improve not only Bass Tournament Survival, but all freshwater and saltwater species survival for all tournament gamefish that suffer from deadly livewell hypoxia during captivity and transport.
It’s a personal choice to embrace or to reject the standard professional practices, techniques and technology necessary to ensure safe and effective live fish transport… to reverse and correct hypoxia within minutes after the fish is hooked, fought, captured and landed; and, ensure that safe dissolved oxygen saturations are sustained at professional hatchery standards throughout many hours of transport and captivity.
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