Smith-Root Electric Fish Handling Gloves are a lightweight, water-proof, and portable system designed to temporarily immobilize live fish for easier handling. Special purpose gloves are electrified to pass levels of manually adjustable electric current through the body of a fish. Recovery of motion occurs for the fish upon release.

The equipment consists of a pair of conductive Electric Fish Handling Gloves, a pair of rubber Insulating gloves, control box, wire leads, four elastic bands, operator's manual, and battery charger. Rechargeable batteries are contained in the light-weight waterproof control box that can be hooked on a belt, making the device fully portable during the fish handling process.

Two sets of gloves must be worn when operating the Electric Fish Handling Glove system. A pair of rubber insulating gloves insulates the handler from the electric current, and is worn under the pair of Electric Fish Handling Gloves. The conductive Fish Handling Gloves are worn over the rubber gloves and are connected to the Control Box with the Wire Leads. On one hand, a Fish Handling Glove acts as the negative terminal (cathode) and on the other hand the glove is the positive terminal (anode). The circuit is completed and current will flow when an electric current setting is selected and a fish is contacted by each of the Fish Handling Gloves.