Protecting the Resource

October-November 2006

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Jerry White

Tampa-based kayak fishing guide Dave Loger practicing catch and release. If you must lift the fish, use a wet hand under the belly and a wet hand grasping the lower jaw. Dan Armitage photo

We live on a shrinking planet. With more and more people wanting to be on the water, we must be careful not to abuse the very environment that draws us. When it comes to fishing, we have to be careful not to destroy species and the places they call home. As paddle-anglers, we can change the way we approach the sport in order to make a difference today and for those who follow us.

Many of us carry our cell phones with us on the water. So take a few minutes, look up the numbers for your local police department, fish and wildlife organization, and plug them in to your phone. Do it now—then come back and finish this article—I’ll wait. This way, should you actually need to contact someone to report a violation, the number will be there. Waiting until you get home to make the call may help expand a database, but does little to resolve the problem.

If you fish with artificial lures, crimp the barbs down on the hooks. This is less damaging to the fish and makes for a much easier release. (In Canadian waters it is illegal to fish for salmon, including cutthroat trout and steelhead, with a barbed hook.)

If you use live bait, use some form of circle hook instead of the typical ‘J’ hook. These don’t require a dramatic hookset, just reel down tight. Circle hooks ensure fewer gut-hooked fish, decreasing fatalities.

Beef up your gear to ensure a short fight. Using ultralight gear on large fish isn’t sporting—it’s stupid. A long battle wears the fish down to the point of exhaustion, or beyond. Sure, you may release the fish, but you’ll never know if it went belly up a few moments later, of fell to a predator because it was too spent to escape.

With ultralight gear, you have to be more cautious to land the fish, basically tiring the fish so you can reel it in without breaking the line. The only thing the angler has on his side is patience, which equates to a longer battle. Should the line break, it condemns the fish to lug around that extra line until it dies from either getting hung up on something or from starvation, unable to chase its prey properly. Heavier gear enables the angler to feel the tug of a fish and get it up while it’s healthy. If the angler plans to release the fish, it’s much easier. If the angler plans to keep the fish, it will have less lactic acid built up in its muscles as a result of the battle, and supposedly that makes for better tasting flesh.

This next item will be the hardest for some of you to get your head around, but it’s by far the most important notion to take from this article. We’re taught early on that a full stringer is the only evidence of a good day on the water. Today, that simply isn’t the case. So, before you head to the water, get it straight in your head that a picture or a story is better than a fillet. What better way to protect the resource than to not destroy it with our sport? You need to remember that for every person who obeys the honor system of keeping just legal fish in just legal quantities, there is a bozo out there who is stocking his freezer with whatever he can catch. You’ve got to get into the mindset to ‘preserve’ the resource and not ‘remove’ it.

Once you catch a fish and bring it alongside the boat, minimize touching it as you remove the hook. That slime coat is its coat of armor—do all you can not to damage it.

Make sure your hands are wet. If you must lift the fish, use a wet hand under the belly and a wet hand grasping the lower jaw. If the fish is of the toothy variety, use a lip gripper. If a net must be used, make sure it’s made of cotton and not hard nylon. Never hold a fish vertically. This does more damage than is immediately apparent. If you want to take pictures of your catch, make sure you have your camera handy before the hookset. Once the fish is in the boat is not the time to fumble around and get the camera ready. And a couple of quick pictures are plenty—you don’t need to make a documentary.

Spend as much time as necessary to revive an exhausted fish after being caught. There’s much more to a fish’s survival than simply being able to move its tail as it gets away from you. It has to be strong enough to get some water moving over its gills, and it also needs to be fit enough to elude predators. If you get a good splash in the face from a healthy tail, consider that a good sign.

If you do happen to gut-hook a fish, cut the line as close to the hook as you can—do not try to pull it out. The hook will rust away in a short time, and the fish will have a much better chance of survival.

If you witness anyone taking fish illegally, or fishing in restricted areas, call the authorities—then, not later. That’s why having the phone number programmed is so important. Do not confront them yourself. They’re probably well aware they’re breaking the law. The only way that authorities can do their job is if they get good info—we can provide that.

Feel free to share strategies and techniques, but please, keep your ‘honey holes’ to yourself. You see, a ‘honey hole’ is a thriving eco-area, a place humans haven’t screwed up yet. It’s a place where fish are breeding and surviving. Those fish are the ones that will help rebuild other areas as they migrate to feed and breed. The last thing you want to do is broadcast this and stop the cycle. So, share the picture, tell the story, but keep those bountiful locations to yourself.

This fishing thing is a lot of responsibility, isn’t it? We’ve only begun to scratch the surface. Once you’re off the water you can still make a very positive impact. If you truly have a desire to protect this resource, you need to take a stand on conservation. There are countless organizations and programs that could benefit from any contribution (time or money) you can spare. We’re all busy, traveling at the speed of life, but if we don’t act now in an intelligent, collective manner, it won’t be long before there’s nothing left to protect.

I hope this article has made you think. But more than anything, I hope I’ve prompted you to DO something—be part of the solution and not part of the problem. At the end of the day, this will give you more satisfaction that just catching a fish.

I’d like to close with one of my favorite quotes—hopefully it will soon be one of yours: “Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” (Henry David Thoreau)

© Jerry White lives in Largo, FL and writes articles for www.paddling.net emphasizing technique and safety. See www.paddling.net/guidelines/showArticle.html?141 for a link to all his articles.