Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Many moons ago I had a friend and client of mine (known locally as "Hurricane Murray") latch into what proved to be a mako of about 500-pounds. Soon after hook-up the fish jumped and we realized the proportions of what we were dealing with. As the fight progressed I began to prepare for the end game by rigging the flying gaff, which prompted Murray to speak up and say, "You won't need that, I want 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 when Murray said "release" 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 Murray’s 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”. Knowing that the shark would provide more meat than his group could use, that the meat of a really large mako isn't of the same quality as the smaller ones anyway, that day Murray just wasn't up for 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, and I say, “Good for him!” And to be honest with you, when we tagged that shark and sent 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 - even fewer have intentionally released them.
The reason to keep or release a fish varies widely from 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. Considering the edibility of the meat is no-brainer, 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. 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 home freezers. Putting a little thought into what you decide to keep or release is the difference between being an ethical sportsman or someone who just wants to get some blood on the deck and his ego stroked back at the dock.
It’s always interesting how some anglers will justify keeping a 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 he normally would have released the 75-pound (but legal at the time) mako he brought in, 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 his son got the message that day 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 win 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 kinda crazy when you think about it!
Now before anyone gets the wrong idea, for what it's worth, I'm not suggesting that there is 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, an 8-pound bluefish, a 500-pound mako, or any other size or type of fish, anglers will never go wrong if they listen to their conscience rather than their ego. §
