Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Probably more so than ever before, fishermen are doing a lot more “releasing” these days. And while I’d like to say that it’s all a result of a new upwelling of ethics among fishermen, but I’m afraid that much of the credit is simply due to regulations. If you haven’t noticed, a lot of days it might be no problem to go out and catch a fish or two, but to get the right size and type at the precise time when the season is actually open – that’s the trick! Of course, if there’s fish to be caught a lot of us are going to be out there catching them just because we love to fish so much that if catch-and-release is what we’ve gotta do then so be it, we’ll catch fish every day and eat burgers every night if we have to, but we WILL fish!
At face value this release bonanza might seem like a win-win-win for everyone involved, and it pretty much is considering that fishermen get to fish, tackle shops, marinas and all the other businesses that prosper from the fishing industry make money, and after being released the fish get to go back into the water to do whatever it is they were doing before they were interrupted by a sudden tug on their cheek. Everybody’s happy - right? Well…… maybe not always.
Catch-and-release has always been a great thing for sportsmen and has allowed us to participate in the different fisheries regardless of whether the season is open or closed, even if the fish are too small or, in some cases, too big. If we put back everything we catch, we get to keep on fishing no matter what. Catch-and-release is something fishing has over hunting as you can’t exactly drop a deer in the woods or knock a duck out of the sky and then decide, “Nah, it’s too small,” pat it on its head and send it happily on its way with hopes of maybe shooting again next year after it’s grown a bit. Shoot-and-release hunting just doesn’t seem to work.
As ridiculous as the notion of killing something and then trying to turn it loose might seem, over the years I have unfortunately seen far too many examples of fishermen who are pretty close to doing just that with some of the fish they catch. Mishandling fish is a problem a lot of fishermen need to work on.
Much of the problem is an attitude of contempt some anglers have toward the fish they release, and I’m not just referring to sea robins and skates. I’ve heard anglers cussing flounder, sea bass and even tuna when what they catch is too small and they release their quarry in anything but a gentle way. While stuck in traffic one afternoon I watched a fellow haul an undersized flounder up onto the Rt. 50 Bridge, flop it down on the hot dry pavement, hold it down with his foot while he pried the hook out, and then toss it over the railing like a Frisbee! While I’m sure that was an “extreme” case of poor ethics, total “jerkness” or however you’d want to describe the actions of the fool, it just goes to show how bad it can be sometimes for the fish that get released. Then again, whether a fish dies from such blatant mishandling as that, or after being released by a well-meaning but uninformed fisherman who makes the mistake of using a dry rag to hold his catch while removing the hook, dead-is-dead and either way that fish is not going to live to make more fish or have a shot at being caught again some day when it might be a keeper.
Poor release practices are often the result of fishermen who simply aren’t prepared for catch-and-release. Consider a small group of anglers who hop in their boat for a day of offshore fishing with hopes of bringing home a few tuna. They’re ready for their catch with a cooler full of ice and a sharp gaff but when they happen into a school of mostly undersized fish it might be a different story. It’s easy to land a keeper tuna. All you have to do is stick it with the gaff and swing it into the fish box. But boating, measuring, de-hooking and releasing a tuna in a way that doesn’t eventually kill it requires some extra tools and at least a little prior planning. Obviously a gaff can’t be used so the tuna will have to either be netted or lifted in by the leader. Once on deck, tuna are like greased pigs that kick and squirm at 6000 RPM’s, and if not handled properly will beat and bang themselves to death while anglers try to measure and de-hook them. Tuna should never be lifted by the tail but anglers can wrap them in a large wet towel for safe control while working with them. A large padded mat on the deck can also be used to keep them from banging themselves up too much. Whenever possible, the best bet is to just release the tuna (or any fish) in the water, and for that the ARC de-hooking tool is a “must-have” for every fisherman.
Speaking of de-hooking tools, and getting back to flounder, I’m astonished to see that aboard at least some of our local bay-fishing party boats, crew members are not routinely using de-hookers to release their flounder. This is a tool that every mate on every flounder boat should have in their possession every moment they’re fishing. During the summer, when business is good and the fish are biting, 50-100 flounder will be released from these boats each trip. Considering the “proven” fact that holding a fish in a bare hand or a dry rag removes the slime layer and can eventually kill it, that’s a lot of flounder that might be dying every day after being caught and released from our local headboats. De-hooking tools are cheap, easy to use and get a fish back in the water fast and without the hassle or mess of trying to grab or restrain a squirming, puking flounder. It’s an absolute “no-brainer” that everyone fishing the bay should use a de-hooking tool, particularly the crews of the headboats - but many of them don’t. It doesn’t make much sense that some of the folks who rely on a healthy flounder population for their own livelihoods do so little to help protect it. Just a little effort by a few fishermen could go a long way to enhancing local flounder populations!
Whether they’re turning loose tuna, sharks, billfish, bluefish, sea bass, sea robins or flounder, every fish and every fishing situation is so different that there is no one technique that will always ensure a safe and healthy release for every fish, but “where there’s a will there’s a way” and the best thing anglers can do is have a release “plan” and release “tools” ready for quick use before the fish is landed. Even if they’re among the few that have zero ethics, common sense alone should tell anglers that just like putting money in a savings account - every fish they put back in the water “healthy” is one more they might be able to catch in the future.
Captain Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
