California Sea Grant College Program

If you’ve ever been on a sportfishing boat and seen the bulging eyes and distended intestines of undersized fish, you might have wondered if there were any point throwing them back. Amazingly, the answer is “yes,” for some species–if they are returned to depth quickly. “If you get them down, they will live,” said California State University, Long Beach, biology professor Chris Lowe, who has led several experiments on the effects of catch-and-release on nearshore fishes.