Why release big fish anyway?

[profisher]

Its quite simple when it comes to retaining or releasing fish. If you need it, keep it. If you don't let it go. (if it isn't a bleeder)

 

[Sculpin]

The worlds fish populations aren't in decline because of sport fishing....ah that would be commercial!!!! Don't try and weave around that fact...you can't change the truth.

Great post.

 

[chris73]

Just to state my position: I love fishing, like eating fish but my family isn't very fond of fish meals. So what do I do? I release a number of big fish every year. And have been doing this for many years - both fresh and salt and in all parts of the world. I keep whatever I feel I can feed to myself and the family, add a few BBQs with friends in and the rest that I catch goes back to live a bit longer. I do not net fish that I know I will release. I believe I gotten pretty good in twisting the hooks out when the fish is beside the boat and after holding and reviving the fish until I feel it wants to swim away I feel that the survival rate could be well over 90%. In a few cases the hooks sit too deep for a "beside the boat" surgery and then I will net and kill it. Now, I have to admit, I have a small boat with low gunnels plus my arm length probably exceeds that of most others - so that plays a factor in conveniently releasing my fish.

So in my case, with little need for fish and the physics of boat and body being favourable for release, I think C&R is a reasonable procedure. If my family liked eating fish I would kill more, no doubt. And wouldn't feel bad about it at all. As LC said, we are a small impact.

Would I kill a once in a lifetime fish, for bragging rights and a wall-mount? Yeah, probably. But probably only once in my life. And again, wouldn't feel bad about it.

 

[Dave S]

Its quite simple when it comes to retaining or releasing fish. If you need it, keep it. If you don't let it go. (if it isn't a bleeder)

Well said!

Myself, I have found that my needs are around 60lbs of salmon a year and 50lbs of halibut a year. Throw in a few trout, some crab and prawns, and a few cod, and thats plenty for my family and friends. I am conservative though.

 

[weedeater]

well fisher, lets look at this argument a little close

Correct, and shore based jobs are 50% (or more) of the total economic contribution from the commie sector. If you compare hours of EI between the two sectors, I would imagine the total drain on the economy is a wash. Guides employed by lodges being roughly equal to shore workers employed by the large corps. Where you need to be looking (in order to oppose or support my argument) is the value of each fish. It has been proven by many economists with much more skill than I will ever have that a sport caught fish has an economic contribution of 10 to 20 times that of a commercially caught fish

complete and utter crap. Please let me know where the efficiency is in taking a 60 ton trap and moving all over the coast versus a set wier that passively re-directs salmon to a waiting location for individual sorting and capture or release. Not to mention that well over 50% of the sorted fish die prior to or shortly after release from a revival box. Scale and slime loss in a brailing bucket is horrific. Any biologist worth half his salt will take one look at those fish in a revival bin and pronounce them DOA. In addition, seine fisheries have proven many times over that they are the least selective fisheries and commonly intercept mixed races of fish. In essence wiping out smaller river stocks while chasing the large schools of larger rivers. Don't believe me? Have a close look at the status of every small river on the ECVI and their decimated populations of nearly every species they support.

more bs. With regards to fish quality, troll caught has ALWAYS had a higher per pound value and sells for more at wholesale level. I wonder why that is. Perhaps its the quality of the fish and the fact that they haven't been crushed in a massive seine of tons of fish and hauled on board and dropped into a hold. While seiners may small brail and sort when an observer is on board, they commonly haul everything on board and dump it if and when they can, when an observer is not on board.

No argument here. Gill netting should be banned. But it is about as selective as seining. While it does not discriminate with regards to species, at least it targets terminal fisheries and not mixed races. Yes that can mean mixed races from tributaries, but at least it eliminates the over harvest of small systems that empty direct into the Pacific.

While it is true that larger fish yield a lower /lb value, I would love to see the stats of how many large egg producing female halibut are released by the commies. To even suggest that they throw back large fish is laughable.

More crapola. High grading is simply NOT a factor. Never has been and never will be. This is a miniscule % of sport fishing (salt or fresh). I defy you to find ANY evidence of this EVER being a concern to DFO, guides, or ANYBODY. If you want to challenge the sport in the sport fishery, you would have been better off to challenge the species or wild poaching and over limit harvest, not the high grading. But even then a poached wild fish is still worth 10 - 20 times more than the same wild fish when it is commie caught in a non-selective manner. I'll take that economic value of a sport caught poached dead wild fish any day over the same economic value of the same dead wild commercially caught non-selective, non-terminal, crushed, low quality, low value fish.

Not really sure wher 69er get his info, the highest price for hali is paid for the large, recovery is better the larger the fish right now large is worth up to 80c a pound more than small!! Gillnetting when there are mesh size regulations set can be fairly selective, and some are experimenting with new tangle nets as opposed to the gillnets, not as selective but easier to release a fish if needed. I think verry few are throwing back 20 lb fish, some perhaps, but few, but i will agree we are missmanaged!!!!!!!!!!