SwimWell™ Advanced Fish Recovery Spray
In this Exhibitor Spotlight we’ll hear from Seth Zaharako, founder of SwimWell™ Advanced Fish Recovery Spray, about their innovative new product aimed to help fish recovery when practicing catch and release, what inspired them to create such a product, and what he’s most excited about Confluence 2023.
Introduce yourself - What is your role at SwimWell?
Seth Zaharako: I’m the Founder of SwimWell™ Advanced Fish Recovery Spray. We’ve been working on this for the last 2 years. My key role is bringing together the right mix of people & partners to make SwimWell a product we’re confident in offering to the angling community while building a solid foundation & path for the future. I tend to be very disciplined in making sure we’re not overlooking any detail or taking any shortcuts. To our knowledge, SwimWell is the first of its kind - designed to help fish recover from stress & exhaustion while supporting slime coat during catch & release angling. It comes with a lot of responsibility, I’ll share more about the supporting data we’ve gotten back over the last 2 years, we’re very encouraged by it.
How did you find yourself working in the fishing industry? Do you fish yourself?
Seth: I’ve been fishing for as long as I can remember. It was passed down from my grandfather and father. I took it and ran with it - playing with different styles, species, and aspects of the sport - anything that kept me connected even when I couldn’t be on the water. Some of my best memories have been through fishing. It gave me so much over the years - a way to connect with people I was close to, provide the solitude I needed in a given moment, and a way to keep growing and learning about the sport & myself. SwimWell was the impetus to be involved in the sport from an industry perspective. For me, SwimWell is yet another way to be connected, participate, and give-back to the sport & its sustainable future.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind developing SwimWell Advanced Fish Recovery Spray? What motivated you to create this product?
Seth: In short, over the last couple years I had the ability to get out on the water more frequently & fish incredible places. The more I enjoyed it, the more I reluctantly questioned my relationship to sport. I think one part of it was seeing the headwinds facing the sport and another part of it was having kids and wondering what the sport would be like for their kids, in say 20 years. I thought about what the sport & fish give to us as anglers, for our own enjoyment and photo-worthy memories, and wondered what’s in it for the fish. I knew this moment we had them in our hands, prior to release, was an opportunity to help fish recover and show our gratitude before they swim away. I started reviewing the available research on catch & release and looking at the industry more broadly. I partnered with my friend who is an incredible scientist, and together, we decided this was worth the investment of both time and money to pursue. While functional in nature, SwimWell comes from a very emotional place.
How does SwimWell work to promote fish recovery? Could you explain the science behind its oxygenation process?
Seth: The SwimWell formula contains stabilized dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and electrolytes that become available to the fish after it is sprayed. As long as fish gills and skin remain moist, the oxygen and formula will diffuse from the layer of water into the gill and skin cells. While water-based, SwimWell has a slight viscosity to help this process and support slime coat protection. Although we learn in school that fish breathe only through gills, they typically obtain 10-20% (and up to 30% for some) of oxygen across their skin, so every tiny bit matters. Additional oxygen diffuses into their red blood cells, and reduces the hypoxia associated with landing the fish and its exposure to air. A recent study performed by Dr. Lluis Tort, PhD fish physiologist at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2023 mimicked the challenges of catch & release on the trout, looking at both behavioral indicators & blood biochemistry of fish sprayed vs control group. He saw notable improvements across both indicators in sprayed fish, his paper is expected to be released later this year & he summarizes the findings below.
“In conclusion, the results of this work indicate that first, the spray shows positive effects regarding the protection against hypoxia due to the catch and release practices in rainbow trout. In particular, the sprayed fish showed less hypoxic reactions such as red cell swelling and cell increase, suggesting that that fish group did not need to undertake compensatory responses to hypoxia due to catching. In addition, the fact that the stress response, as shown by plasma cortisol, remained unaltered indicates that such better response was not produced by any anaesthetic or chemically driven effect that could mask the hypoxic response. Moreover, the behavioural indicators showed that in most cases the spray gave more positive responses during recovery from catching compared to untreated fish.”
In a separate 2022 study at a US university conducted on zebrafish, the SwimWell ingredients & formula were tested for their ability to support fish resilience. Shortly after model exhaustion, SwimWell-sprayed zebrafish recovered their ability to swim, significantly outperforming the control group.
How easy is it to use SwimWell? Could you walk us through the application process?
Seth: It is very easy. SwimWell uses Bag-on-Valve™ aerosol technology allowing the angler to spray continuously, 360-degrees at any angle for maximum convenience on the water. That said, the first thing we talk about when using SwimWell is to integrate it into science-based best practices for fish handling. In our conversations with anglers & guides, we see a wide spectrum for how fish get handled based on a variety of factors like awareness of best practices, angler ability, species, conditions, tackle, and so on. If you're an angler who doesn’t take the fish out of the net prior to releasing - that’s amazing - however the fish is likely still stressed and exhausted from the fight. In this case, we advise minimally exposing fish above the surface of the water and spraying with SwimWell. If you’re a guide & your client wants a photograph, you have the benefit of two people to coordinate spraying the fish on the way up to make some level of oxygen available and help keep the fish wet, then spray again prior to releasing. Again, in addition to helping the fish recover better, we hope that process will make the experience deeper and more meaningful for anglers. It does for me and pretty much everyone we’ve talked to using it so far.
Is SwimWell safe for the fish and the aquatic environment? Are there any environmental considerations for its use?
Seth: SwimWell is an oxygenated, water-based formula enhanced with natural essential electrolytes and nutrients sitting within an acceptable pH range for fish. In two studies in zebrafish and trout performed so far, both species showed no detrimental effects. Moreover, trout gills and skin were carefully checked for damage and none was found. As mentioned, SwimWell canister also uses Bag-on-Valve™ aerosol technology that separates the formula from eco-friendly compressed air, meaning no harmful propellants are used as a result. Emptied SwimWell packaging is 100% recyclable and offers both convenience and reliability for the consumer and environment.
What are you most excited about attending Confluence 2023?
While not new to the sport, we’re new to the industry. Meeting people within the industry and having dialogue is the most exciting part of it for us. I’m fairly certain we share the same values & interest as a majority of attendees to make the sport more sustainable and thriving into the future. So we welcome conversations about this topic and SwimWell’s role in that, regardless of the opinion. We’re entering into the New Product Showcase and would be honored and excited for the industry to acknowledge SwimWell as one of the best new products this year.
Anything else you’d like to add about SwimWell, the fly fishing industry, or the upcoming AFFTA Confluence event?
Seth: We are members of 1% for the Planet & actively partnering with non-profit organizations that align with SwimWell values. If you are a non-profit or 1% beneficiary organization interested in partnering with SwimWell, please reach out to us by going to our website https://swimwellfish.com/, DM us @swimwellfish on Instagram, or email me directly at seth@swimwellfish.com.