Quote:
Originally Posted by Ttmako
3-Once the fish are landed, they belong to the fisherman. They should be free to clean, donate, barter or sell the catch they legally possess.
7-Size limits should be eliminated. Current regulations require fisherman to keep breeding fish and throw away mortally wounded, perfectly edible smaller fish. Releasing a mortally wounded fish is immoral and not a sustainable practice. Propose that fisherman be allowed to keep fish that the angler believes will not survive.
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I agree with many of these concepts - here's a few thoughts one some:
Being allowed to clean the catch at sea makes enforcement that much more difficult in a state where there already aren't enough CO's to enforce the rules. Allowing donate/barter/sell would encourage some less than honorable people to bend the rules and exceed their quota. There is a fine line between recreational and commercial if one can gain a monetary profit from their catch.
Size limits can't be eliminated all together out of necessity, but intelligent slot limits would help in preserving the breeder stock while allowing recreational fishermen a better bag limit in many cases. Although I agree throwing back mortally wounded fish gains nothing for the fish population, again, this type of concept would encourage certain individuals to inappropriately keep under size or non-slot fish by fabricating that they were mortally wounded.
Some rules need to be in place to help ensure the rules are followed. Unfortunately, not everyone who wets a line is an honorable sportsman.
