Education

[cynmar]

I was out this weekend and as usual got irritated. I am not a pro fisherman, just like to put my line in the water and enjoy the sport. I do get irritated when we have people that don't respect the resource. I am looking around and people are keeping fish that wouldn't be larger than my fingers. How do they get a liscence? We need to educate these people that no matter what your culture is where you came from, here we respect the resource and you put the small ones back. I am not against eating a few fish, but they need to be in the right size range to protect the resource. There , I am done ranting.

 

Bill

[asdve23rveavwa]

You can't educate those who don't want to be educated. I know where you are coming from though, it amazes me to see the fish that are kept from our local reservoir. Why someone would even want to eat them boggles the mind.

[Terry]

well

 

I know your intentions are good

but

 

1... if they are keeping fish within the set limits and seasons then they have every right to do it and who are we to complain about people fishing with in the law

 

2 ...only 1 in every 3000 perch live long enough to spawn the first time

 

if this guy catches and keeps 3000 little perch over a season and you keep 20 12 inch perch over the same time

you have put 20 times more pressure on the resource then the one that keeps small ones.....

just a thought, I could be wrong

 

and if you are right then you should complain about the regs, not the people fishing within the rules

Edited July 29, 2010 by Terry

[cynmar]

You are right , maybe the regulations should be changed, however, there should be an innate sense of what is right to keep. I don't have your stats on the mortality of young perch, perhaps the lack of respect for the resource contributes to that. I see no sense in keeping a fish that is 3 " long. That says to me that you don't care about the resource and will exploit it to the inevitable result of collapse of that resource. As well, you are right about keeping the progenitors of the next species, that also needs to be viewed with a renewable resource picture in mind.

 

Bill

[Radnine]

We need to educate these people that no matter what your culture is where you came from, here we respect the resource and you put the small ones back. I am not against eating a few fish, but they need to be in the right size range to protect the resource.

 

We need to teach these people that food comes from a grocery store not a lake! They need to be thrown back so we can swoop in with our giant bass boats and haul out lunkers for great photos!! Sheesh, what's up with these people?

 

 

well

 

I know your intentions are good

but

 

1... if they are keeping fish within the set limits and seasons then they have every right to do it and who are we to complain about people fishing with in the law

 

2 ...only 1 in every 3000 perch live long enough to spawn the first time

 

if this guy catches and keeps 3000 little perch over a season and you keep 20 12 inch perch over the same time

you have put 20 times more pressure on the resource then the one that keeps small ones.....

just a thought, I could be wrong

 

and if you are right then you should complain about the regs, not the people fishing within the rules

 

 

Terry, I'm impressed.

Jim

[troutologist]

These small fish not only have future reproductive potential for that species, but offer food and thus energy for current reproductive potential of various other species. Though legally within the limits, the removal of 1 size/age class of fish can have confounding effects on the ecosystem as a whole.

 

A stable spread of age classes of fish starts with high juveniles going down to fewer old fish, there will be peaks and valleys to indicate boom and bust years of spawning due to some environmental condition. A continual removal of juvenile fish may push the population away from equilibrium, with potential impacts.

 

Teaching about the conservation of our resources is never a bad thing, nor time wasted. All need to understand there is a finite amount of fish and preservation is the key to future use.

[perchslayer666]

Not this crap again. Some people can't mind there own business... Who are you guys to make assumptions about another person fishing? If they are fishing within the law then who cares if they are keeping fingerling sized perch or sunfish? They obviously love it and are having a good time fishing.

 

PLEASE DON'T POST ANYTHING UNLESS YOU ARE 100% SURE OF YOUR ACCUSATION, AND DONE SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

[discophish]

I accuse the neighbour at the cottage of the same thing.

 

Bloody hell ... it blows my socks off.

 

I became so steamed one morning after the cottage running out of coffee, that I stormed out to take a picture of him ... catching him in the act red beaked!

 

I submitted this picture to the processes of the ministry. I am waiting to hear back from them.

 

[asdve23rveavwa]

I accuse the neighbour at the cottage of the same thing.

 

Bloody hell ... it blows my socks off.

 

I became so steamed one morning after the cottage running out of coffee, that I stormed out to take a picture of him ... catching him in the act red beaked!

 

I submitted this picture to the processes of the ministry. I am waiting to hear back from them.

 

Great photo by the way!!!

[livinisfishin]

If you see that they like 3" fish, show them a goby and make sure to tell them to keep as many as they would like. I don't fish for trout very often ( once a year in a river) I have a friend that took me down this year I hooked into a 4" baby trout and he was hell bent on me keeping it "they make great fishsticks!" Is what he said I honestly couldn't believe it I would never keep a fish so tiny let alone a trout. So I do see where you are coming from!

[BillsTheBassMan]

These aren't my words, but I'll take the opportunity to share them here as they are quite relevant:

 

"We have reached the time in the life of the planet, and humanity's demands upon it, when every fisherman will have to be a riverkeeper. We are beyond having to put back what we have taken out. We must put back more than we take out. Otherwise, as you have already learned, these creatures will continue to disappear at an accelerating rate."

 

That's from Tom McGuane.

 

With all the commercial fishing, all the spills and fertilizer and crap (literally) going into the water you just can't have everyone who owns a fishing pole keeping everything they catch. The same people doing this will be the same ones that complain the fishing is garbage. The one thing going, is at least they generally congregate in easy-to-access-predictable areas.

 

Let's be clear, I'm not singling out any race, age, sex, or gender. The fact is there's just a lot of idiots out there dumping their garbage in the water and fishing illegally. Anyone who sees anything sketchy should report it. There are times where you SHOULD say something. There are times where you shouldn't. There are never times where you should get physical or violent, although there are times we'd all like to.

[Guest LivingLegend]

If your for sure they are doing something wrong call and report it, everyone has the right to do it. Im all about catch and release, Im not starving so toss it back...........