Two factors predominate when considering the causes of angled fish mortality: the hooking location, and the degree of physiological stress suffered by the fish
Catch and release is inhumane. The fisherman's guilt pacifier of wet hands does not make the practice of handling the fish safe for the fish. Most will die because of this handling.
What's your source?
That's your opinion and my opinion is that yours is wrong. Most DO NOT die. Yes certain practices lead to high mortality (bait, playing too long, fishing already stresses fish etc.) How do you think the fish in catch and release sections grow to be so big and so old. If mortality is as high as you believe, they would not be there.
As far as inhmane, I don't believe so.
"Fish never suffered an anticipation of the pain as a human would. As soon as the pain stops, fish resume the business of feeding and schooling or nesting or ignoring flies or whatever fish work they were engaged in. Says Dr. Thompson: “Their brains are not wired up like ours and don't even have all the same parts that our brains do.”
I have caught the same fish before during the same 1/2 hour.
I don't feel any guilt when I release a fish back into the wild unless I know it might not make it. That happens, I won't deny it. But it does not happen by my hand very often at all. I have seen some terrible actions that some considered a safe release where I know that fish would not survive. It is up to people who know how, to educate those who don't.
Please also read through a few of the links I posted above like
http://www.acuteangling.com/Reference/C&RMortality.html
