Maybe catch and release should end

[blaze]

Ok, I know a lot of people will flame me for this but what the hell I'm tasmanian, 2 headed and bloody brood shouldered.
I am also a member of ANSA and was the tasmanian tagging deligate for a couple of years.
So got that out the way.

To fish as a hunter/gatherer can be justified to any reasonable person that cares to listen as we all hunt and gather in our own way wether it be at the supermarket or out in the bush at the source. Most people of reasonable sound mind do it in such a way as to minimise the pain and suffering of the species we choose to hunt/gather. If in this same position as a hunter/gatherer we are asked to decrease or have an open /closed season, the true hunterer/gatherer will agree and bide by them reasonings if of sound sicienctific research.

Sportfishing
catch and release
what ever you like to call it is just that. Using an animal/fish for our own pleasure.

How can we as a group justify fishing for that purpose.
I am not at all saying stop catch and release (do it my self), I just think that with all the political side of catch and release with goverment sponership we are putting our selves in a perilise postition. I believe we need to return our focus to it being a hunter/gatherer occupation over and above a catch and release management arangement. Groups like the Radical green movement and PETA etc are also hunter/gatherers in there own right (maybe some are only gatherers).
So maybe some of the catch and release people can see the reasoning for the hunter/gatherer and start to support that side of fishing as I think if we want our grand kids to fish it will only be allowed as a hunter/gatherer and not the sportfishing as we know today.

I hope with this post I create a lot of passion and debate but please refraim from personal insults as that takes away from the debate that can be had on this topic and in its own small way may help our future

cheers
blaze
ps
lots of spelling errors as the left head kept argueing the the right head

[banshee]

I know what you are saying Blaze but I disagree,fact is I catch a lot more fish than I care to take home so if in good condition I release them,I could stop fishing when I get a feed and head home but I choose not to,I love to fish,I also target fish that I have absolutely no intention of puting in the esky Kingies,Mangrove Jacks,Bass to name a few,once again I choose to do this and the bleatings of some feral green idiots will not change my actions.If this is veiwed as barbaric by some in the wider comunity so be it I believe my angling and release techniques leaves the vast majority of fish,that in my opinion can not feel pain,well enough to fight another day.Is what I do any worse than the people who flog the shit out of horses racing in steeple chases knowing that if the horse(that has a complex nervous system and can definately process pain) falls there is a better than even chance it will be destroyed?

P.S. Sorry about the feral green idiot thing,I live between Nimbin and The Channon and I find it hard to think of these people as any thing else.

[dasher]

A thought ???

[dasher]

Seriously I would prefer this subject never to come up and leave sleeping dogs lie.

[blaze]

Hi Dasher
I also wish there wasnt a need for the subject to be put on the table for discussion, thats the world we now live in and cant bury our heads in the sand (doesnt seem to have hurt the emu to much though)
cheers
blaze

[blaze]

hear what ya saying banshee, I also release far more than I take home (thats gotta be good)
my concern is the political support for catch and release (its all ya seem to read and hear in the media too) and that makes it a easy tarket for radicals as its already has a lot of exposure
cheers
blaze

[Jeremy]

interesting subject Blaze.

1. everyone has to catch and release at least some of the time. Fish of under or over legal size HAVE to be released, as do fish over the bag limit, or undesirable fish, etc etc etc. What is the difference between releasing part of your catch or most/all of it?

2. We all fish for pleasure. Even those of us who keep all legal size fish would have to rate the recreation/enjoyment as the #1 reason. There would be very few people indeed who would be able to justify the expense (tackle, boat, petrol etc)compared to the return (fish fillets) without getting something else out of it. Just can't see that argument holding water myself.

Cheers,

Jeremy

[DICER]

Perhaps Blaze is highlighting that catch and release may have a public identity crisis, and is techically going soft - moreover would it be better to change our image to "catch and keep" and avoid adverse publicity or abrasion with animal rights groups.

I think not and the majority of Australian people would conclude it is acceptable to fish, sometimes by only catch and releasing. This is what probably matters the most - is it acceptable to the general public? Yes (and for pleasure).

(BTW Jeremy what aspect of cancer research do you study?)

[bugman]

Very timely discussion gents.

I just attended a fisheries meeting where one of the members had recently attended a world rec fishing conference in Norway.

He was blown away by the situation in Europe regarding catch and release. In quite a number of countries catch and release has been banned - that's right banned. People that have sought to organise catch and release tournaments and or fished in catch and release tournaments have been prosecuted - that's right prosecuted.

He's seeking more info in order to present a factual presentation to GBRMPA. I've asked him to forward all his info on to me in order to publish it here.

It will make for some very interesting reading gentlemen.

By the way I'd also like to welcome another Ausfish member SeaFisher not only to the chat boards but also to the Inshore FinFish MAC. His input here and on the MAC will be very very valuable.

Regards

Brett

[adrian]

since i only keep what i need for a feed and release the rest . after all frozen fish yuk i'd buy fish fingers from woolies before i'd eat frozen fish . doesn't have the same taste or techture

[gif]

Bugman is correct - I dug this up a year ago

Fishing regulations for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (East Germany)

(1) Unbeschadet sonstiger Vorschriften ist verboten:
1. das Angeln ohne sinnvolle Verwertung des gefangenen Fisches,
2. die Verwendung lebender Köderfische,
3. das Wettangeln oder andere fischereiliche Veranstaltungen mit Wettbewerbscharakter durchzuführen,
4. die Lebendhälterung gefangener Fische in Setzkeschern in Ausübung des Angelns,
5. das Aussetzen maßiger Fische in Gewässer gemäß § 1 Abs. 3 Satz 2 zum Zweck des Wiederfangens und des Angelns der zu diesem Zweck zuvor eigens maßigen ausgesetzten Fische, wenn nicht zwischen dem Aussetzen und dem Wiederfang ein Zeitraum von mindestens vier Wochen eingehalten wird.
(2) Die zuständige Fischereibehörde kann Ausnahmen von Absatz 1 Nr. 2 zulassen, wenn es für die Ausübung der berufsmäßigen Fischerei zwingend erforderlich ist.

[gunna]

Thanks Gary - that makes interesting reading [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[gif]

My translation is not guaranteed but the only word I really doubted is probably "Livewell"

Basically
- no competitions
- no live baiting
- no catch and release # AKA #"Meaninful Utilization" ( no I could not work out what happened with undersized - direct translations do not cover that subtle issue)

Gary


(1)Not regarding other rules the following is forbidden:

1.fishing without a meaningful utilisation of the caught fish,
2.the utilisation of living baits
3.fishing for competitive purposes or other events having a competitive nature
4.keeping living fish in a live well when practising fishing
5.releasing fish in seas following Paragraph 1 Line 3, Sentence 2 to catch them again and fish for them again if there is not a period of at least four weeks between releasing them and catching them again.

(2) The administration can allow exceptions from the rules if it is compulsory for professional fishing.

[Jeremy]

OK, lets play devils advocate for a minute. So catch and release is banned....

with no fish able to be released, the fisheries will collapse within 5 years. Imagine all the little squire taken from the shallow reefs, all the big and little flathead kept, Once one species becomes hard to catch, people will move on to another. It will take hours to catch just a few fish.

So what is better? A sustainable fishery with size and bag limits and fish outside of these limits and in excess of your need released, or all fish caught must be utilised.

No brainer for me.

I believe Blaze posed this question as a 'what if'. Is there anyone out there that actually believes that this is the right way to go?

Jeremy

[Custaro]

I can't see the animal rights people attacking the recreational fishing community over catch & release of our popular table species. Billfish/Game fishing, I assume would be a main focus. Next on list could possibly be Murray Cod & Mary River Cod.

Like in Europe, the animal rights groups will raise a valid argument. Not one that I personally agree fully with. BUT...In Oz we love our outdoor recreation and our Governments do recognise this. In will never get the wider community support to back such laws.