I've never released a dead fish so I know I'm not breaking the law & if you cut the line or hook as close as you can, release it & it swims away neither did you, but if you kept the fish because you think it's going to die, you are breaking the law & unless you tag the fish or put a transmitter in it you can't say you know it was going to die, lots of examples posted here proving you wrong, hooks in live wells, coming out there butt
Richard