Gillnetting it can sustain injuries. These injuries can lead to a lower degree of reproductive success. A study aimed at quantifying mortality of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon due to gillnet-related injuries found that 11–29% of sockeye sustained fishery-related injuries attributable to gillnets, and 51% of those fish were expected to not reproduce. Gillnets are sometimes a controversial gear type especially among sport fishers who argue they are inappropriate especially for salmon fisheries. These arguments are often related to allocation issues between commercial and recreational (sport) fisheries and not conservation issues. Most salmon fisheries, especially those targeting Pacific salmon in North America,
Fear of fish by what is now called graduated exposure therapy: In contrast, radical exposure therapy was used successfully to cure a man with a "life affecting" fish phobia on the 2007 documentary series, "The Panic Room". Historically, the Navajo people were described as being ichthyophobic, due to their aversion to fish. However, this was later recognised as a cultural or mythic aversion to aquatic animals, and not a psychological condition. The "Journal of the American Medical Association" have published a research paper addressing the fears of eating fish because contaminants, such as mercury may be accumulated in fish. In his autobiography, Italian