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Smallmouth bass transport mortality/morbidity is high every summer in aerated livewells during the day. Transport mortality/morbidity is much worse during summer nights.
Smallmouth/ Largemouth Tournament Bass Kills
FACT: Smallmouth bass die quicker than largemouth bass in aerated summer livewells, RE: low dissolved oxygen, hypoxia, and suffocation caused high mortality/morbidity.
Livewell transport DOs are always lowest in aerated summer boat livewells stocked with limits of fish. All fish transported in aerated livewells every summer are at the great risk of hypoxia, suffocation, >mortality/morbidity.
Smallmouth bass die quicker than black bass and catfish in summer transports because they cannot tolerate transport water with low DO.
Increased summer tournament mortality/morbidity is predictable – Some smallouth fishing tournament directors test livewell DO with a dissolved oxygen meter confirming if the boat livewell is “Functional” or “Non-functional.” The livewell contain limits of fish during testing, DO testing of water in weigh-in fish bags containing fish, DO testing of weigh-in holding tanks and release boat hauling tanks is important. Low dissolved oxygen in hot summer environmental water coupled with hooking, fighting, landing, the all day/ all night transport in a boat livewell with low DO, 3-5 minutes of exacerbating air time during the weigh-in process and photo op air time is a killer for smallmouth bass.
“How we caught the fish” speeches while displaying the fish to the public for photo-ops on stage add to deadly air time and tremendous sustained cellular oxygen debt. Recovery from this induced oxygen debt caused by the fisherman requires immediate re-oxygenation with pure oxygen, not air and a mechanical aerator.
Unlike a quick merciful death by a stunning desensitizing blow to the head or severed spinal cord, chronic livewell suffocation is slow death, more stressful, scientifically called hypoxia. Hypoxia (medical) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
More aeration, bigger air pumps, more bubblers and high-volume water pumps will not provide enough DO in a livewell fully stocked/overstocked with smallmouth bass.
Dissolved oxygen saturation requirements for live Smallmouth and Largemouth bass transports are established by Federal and State fish hatcheries live transporters. The Gold Standard transport water quality is continuous 100% DO Saturation or DO Supersaturation when the livewell is fully stocked with fish.
High oxygen levels will not kill or injure fish during live transports
THE DILEMMA: What’s a Tournament Conservation Director to do if the DO test is deadly low and fish are dying or dead and all are suffocating?
THE FUNCTIONAL LIVEWELL RULE: To enforce or not enforce this rule is becomes a real “in your face problem” for tournament officials, State Fish and Game departments, State politicians and the media reporting the facts.
What can any contestant or tournament official do to make the high summer mortality/morbidity problems go away?
The short answer is simple, “fix your low DO water quality problem with the right dose of supplemental oxygen and stop suffocating your tournament catch for hours day and night in aerated transport tanks (livewells).
If your Smallmouths need more oxygen, give them more oxygen, not more air.
“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, OntarioK7L 3N6Canada
STEVEN J. COOKE, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences,
University of Illinois and Center for Aquatic Ecology, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois61820, USA
CORY D. SUSKI, YUXIANG WANG, AND BRUCE L. TUFTS*, Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, OntarioK7L 3N6Canada
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, MD20814, 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.
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.