The danger comes from fish being caught and released

According to a new study, fishing can be a cruel act even when fish are hooked up and released back into the water, because they are no longer able to hunt like before.

The 'Catch-and-drop' policy has become a norm on many rivers and lakes in the UK in recent years, it is considered a more humane solution and an important factor to conserve species. fish.

But the houses now believe that fishing fish such as salmon will hurt them in their mouths and make their hunting ability worse.

In the first studies on this issue, researchers tracked 20 wild caught perch in Canada.

Half were hooked up and half were caught with nets.

The fish caught up are obviously capable of hunting much less.

When they are observed with high-speed cameras in a controlled environment, fish that are caught up are clearly capable of hunting much less.

Scientists at California Riverside University believe that this is caused by a wound caused by a hook that interrupts the suction system in the mouth of the fish. This system is similar to how people smoke liquids through a straw.

Professor Tim Higham, head of the research team, said: 'As we expected, fish mouth wounds have reduced the rate at which they can suck prey into their mouths. "

'Although this is the case we used non-pronged hooks, less damaging than prickly hooks.'

'Although we still do not know how this reduction in hunting performance will affect the body's ability and survival in the wild, but we can confirm that the wounds in the mouth because the fish is heavily influenced by their fishing ability. '

'This study emphasizes that fish being hooked up and released is not as simple as removing the hook in its mouth and all is well, but rather a complicated process that needs to be studied in more detail. ".

However, a spokesman for the Angling Trust said: 'The report makes clear that further research is needed to assess whether fishing up and dropping them will affect the whole population. " .