fish and drowning

[matthay]

is it true that if you pull a fish backwards it will drown

[wildwood]

Not as such, although if you pull it backward long enough and so hard that it can not use its gills, it will indeed drown eventually.

Fish breathe by gulping in water and keep it flowing through their gills where a large part of the oxygen present in the water is dissipated into the bloodstream. Thus, preventing the fish from opening and closing its gills by violently dragging it backwards will impede its breathing.

Putting a lot of fish in a bucket will make them all struggle to stay near water surface to keep breathing because the oxygen in the water body is soon used up. The weakest fish will be unable to wriggle their way through the throng of fish to the top and will effectively drown.

[lankeela]

I am intrigued why you would want to?