| A&M researchers study ways Texas anglers can prevent releasing traumatized fish | |
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Credit: Cat Wofford/UF/IFAS/Release 'Em Right |
Scuba divers are all too familiar with the bends, the painful condition a rapid pressure change ascending from as little as 30 feet of water can cause. It happens to fish, too.
Earlier this month, reported the Galveston County Daily News, a group of researchers from Texas A&M University's Sea Grant program headed offshore in search of red drum. These fish lately had shown signs of barotrauma, a severe bloating that occurs when gases in the body cavity and internal organs rapidly expand as the fish is reeled to the surface. |
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The disease can be fatal; affected fish may find it difficult or impossible to return to their accustomed depths after anglers release them. Common signs of barotrauma include bulging eyes, stomach protruding from the mouth or intestines from the anus, bubbling scales, and floating on the surface of the water. |
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