this is what it means when i say i take spines from my catfish. i remove the bone attached to the front of the pectoral fin. this one was larger than the average fish and required a little surgery (on smaller fish it can be done without using tools). i collect length and weight data on every fish i catch and then use a cross section of the spine to determine age (kind of like seasonal growth rings on a tree) all of this considered together is an indicator of the condition, or health, of the fish. with most fish, age can be determined by looking at growth patterns on the scales, which is much less invasive than the spine technique, but catfish don't have scales so spine removal is the only non-lethal way to age a catfish. and it really isn't lethal. i've surveyed some lakes twice this year and found plenty of fish who'd been under my knife earlier in the season alive and well and functioning just fine with only one pectoral spine.
why do i feel the need to clarify this? i don't know. i guess i don't want to be known as a catfish killa' !
3 comments:
if catfish could talk, upon being pulled from your net that big one wanted to say 'ooooh no please don't rip out my spine!!! nooo nooo! you yanked out my cousin vinny's spine last month and now he sulks around the bottom of the lake and says he's no longer into detritus.'
poor cousin vinny. i'm sure with a little therapy he'll recover just fine.
Hey, patioratio at g mail.com me.
We got business? Yeah, we got business... to discuss.
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