Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
A bunch of years ago one of my clients (known locally as "Hurricane Murray") latched into what proved to be a mako of about 500-pounds. Soon after hook-up, the fish jumped and we realized what we were dealing with, so I began to rig the flying gaff which prompted Murray to speak up and say, "You won't need that, I'd like to release this shark."
My mate and I were shocked; at that point in our career it would have been the largest mako landed on our boat and one that we knew that 99% of our clients would have died to bring back to the dock. But Murray said "release" so I put the gaff away and rigged the tag stick instead. Four and a half hours later I planted the tag in the back of a true once-in-a-lifetime fish.
Murray was able to make the decision to release rather than keep that fish because he put rational thought before his own ego. Murray knew that the shark would provide more meat than his group could use, that the meat of a really large fish isn't usually much to brag about anyway, and that day he just wasn't into killing a big old shark. For Murray those reasons took precedence over the 15-minutes of fame he'd receive from having his picture and name splashed across the fishing papers - good for him! And to be honest with you, when we tagged that shark and set it on its way, my mate and I realized the pride and satisfaction of knowing we'd been a part of a fishing experience few anglers will allow themselves to know. Not a lot of people can say they've caught such a fish and even fewer have intentionally released them.
The reason to keep or release a fish varies widely from boat to boat and angler to angler. For some, any legal fish is going to end up dead in the fish box, while others habitually take a lot into consideration before wielding the gaff. They'll consider the edibility of the meat because whether by size or by species some fish simply aren't very good to eat. Also, even though they may be "legal", sometimes the size of the fish can still end up being too small or too large on an anglers "ethical" scale. And sometimes the timing of the catch can be wrong, such as with vacationing anglers who may not have a place to properly keep fish fillets or steaks until they can get them back to their freezers at home. Putting a little thought into what you decide to keep or release is the difference between a real sport fisherman and someone who just wants to get some blood on the deck and his ego stroked back at the dock.
I find it interesting how anglers sometimes justify keeping fish that they know should probably be released with lame excuses to mask the truth that they just wanted to throw a fish up on the dock at the end of the day. At the weigh station one evening a friend told me that normally he would have released such a small (75-pound) mako, but it was his son's first, so he felt he had to keep it. He made it sound as if releasing that fish would have somehow minimized his son's accomplishment. So, instead of learning a great lesson about the reasons for practicing catch-and-release, I guess that day his son got the message that it's OK to shift your ethics to suit your own needs.
A better example of a ridiculous excuse was a couple years ago when a fellow brought in a similar size mako and said that he only kept it because it was the first mako caught on his new boat. I suppose the "boat" would have been very upset if the fish was released!
Some of the most confusing examples of ethical standards being thrown out the window occur during big-money billfish tournaments. On any given day of the summer, if someone were to bring in a white or blue marlin for no other reason than to eat it, they'd be lynched by fellow fishermen who are passionately opposed to anyone boating billfish. The hypocrisy of it all is that most members of such a lynch mob would jump at the chance to bring in billfish if the catch could earn them money in a tournament.
On one hand they attest that it's best that a species be released for conservation reasons, on the other hand they figure it's alright to kill the fish if they can make money on it - talk about selling out your ethics! And some of those same folks are very quick to bash commercial fishermen claiming that they "catch up all the fish for profit." It's really kind of crazy when you think about it!
Now before anyone gets the wrong idea, for what it's worth, I'm not suggesting that there's anything wrong with bringing in billfish for tournaments or boating other fish that are legal and meet ethical standards. I do, however, take issue with anglers who seem to turn their morals on and off to suit the moment or the audience. I'm a black-and-white kind of guy who figures that if a fish is too small (or too large) to keep, then that's it, and regardless of the angler's personal issues the fish should be released - period! Similarly, if a fisherman thinks it's OK to bring a marlin (or other fish) in for a chance to win a million bucks then he shouldn't get all fired up and in the face of a weekend-angler who brings one in to put a little meat on the table.
When it's time to make that life-or-death decision for an 80-pound white marlin, a 45-inch striper, a 500-pound mako or any other size or type of fish, anglers will never go wrong if they listen to their conscious rather than their ego.
Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and Captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
