The effects of surgical staples on incision healing and long-term fish growth are largely unknown. To determine these effects, we implanted 50 rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss with dummy radio transmitters, closed incisions with either silk sutures or steel staples, and monitored these fish for 6 months. Surgeries with staples were performed twice as fast as suture surgeries. Incisions closed with staples had three times less epidermal infection than sutured incisions. Fish with staples lost significantly fewer visible implant tags and had a lower incidence of abdominal bloating, two signs of systemic stress, than did fish with sutures. Six months after surgery, treatment and control groups had grown equally. The lower incidence of local and systemic infection caused by staples and the faster speed with which they can be applied suggest stapling is a better method than suturing for closing incisions.