NO FLOATERS: KEEPING BAROTRAUMA AT BAY
“Fish on!” exclaims a volunteer angler as her fishing pole bends deeply over the side of the boat. Slowly, a brightly colored rockfish is gently reeled up to the surface. These fish are collected, and then released, in order to obtain important biological data as part of ODFW’s ecological monitoring of marine reserves.
However, this particular rockfish looked more like an alien than a fish with its bulging, popped-out eyes and esophagus protruding out of its mouth. The reason? A condition known as barotrauma.
Barotrauma is caused by gasses expanding in a fish’s swim bladder. When the fish is reeled to the surface from deep ocean depths, the swim bladder begins to expand as the surrounding water pressure decreases. This expanded swim bladder often displaces the fish’s internal organs which can result in the tell-tale bulging-eyes or extruding esophagus, or sometimes in less obvious signs that are not readily visible. Fish that have experienced barotrauma aren’t always able to swim back down on their own and may float on the surface when they are released by the angler. Without intervention, these fish may die.
So, what do research scientist know about barotrauma in fish? What are things anglers can do to help combat barotrauma? What is the ODFW Marine Reserves research team doing to minimize barotrauma during their surveys? Find out by clicking on the link to our Blog below.
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