There is more to C&R than simply being alive after release. Rivrguy tells of brood stocking Chinook. The fish lived a couple of days, and then died.

The elephant in the room is the long-term effects. There have been studies on female sturgeon egg resorption following C&R. Or, simply not dawning that year. We need to know how often a fish is caught, how that affects their fecundity, how it affects location of spawning, and a myriad of questions like that.

If sturgeon, or any resource, does not increase following a change in harvest/encounter then it is necessary to do more, not less.