Opinions on Snake Heads

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by reason162

I find it funny when people insist I *must* kill any fish I catch...I don't work for the state, and if I want to release a fish that's what I'm going to do.

It's one thing if they are on the verge of eradicating snakeheads, but from what I understand they've completely given up on bodies of water where they're already established.

My personal opinion is live and let live, but ultimately it should be up to the individual angler.

this is a terrible attitude. the law is the law. your personal opinion doesn't enter in to it. if you don't like it, make public comments, lobby the council and get the law changed.

doing whatever you want instead makes you no better than the guy keeping a bucket full of 8" bass.

[JDTuna]

Originally Posted by acabtp

this is a terrible attitude. the law is the law. your personal opinion doesn't enter in to it. if you don't like it, make public comments, lobby the council and get the law changed.

doing whatever you want instead makes you no better than the guy keeping a bucket full of 8" bass.

No, definitely not the same thing. This regulation is pointless and, in my opinion, needs to be changed to either release immediately or kill them to prevent transporting live fish to other water bodies. That's the regs that they have dealing with invasives in Florida.

Regardless, there is no getting rid of them. They're here to stay. They have spread throughout major river systems, and there is no chance of getting rid of them. Killing for the sake of killing is just a ridiculous waste.

And all the science to this point indicates they are not a problem. Nor will they be a problem. They are ecologically the same as a bowfin. They fill the same niche. Just two species that evolved in similar habitats on different continents. They aren't the monster the media made them out to be.

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by JDTuna

No, definitely not the same thing. This regulation is pointless and, in my opinion, needs to be changed to either release immediately or kill them to prevent transporting live fish to other water bodies. That's the regs that they have dealing with invasives in Florida.

Regardless, there is no getting rid of them. They're here to stay. They have spread throughout major river systems, and there is no chance of getting rid of them. Killing for the sake of killing is just a ridiculous waste.

And all the science to this point indicates they are not a problem. Nor will they be a problem. They are ecologically the same as a bowfin. They fill the same niche. Just two species that evolved in similar habitats on different continents. They aren't the monster the media made them out to be.

if you think the law should be changed, then work to change the law. not following the law just because you don't agree with or like it is the exact same thing the poachers do.

[reason162]

Originally Posted by JDTuna

Regardless, there is no getting rid of them. They're here to stay. They have spread throughout major river systems, and there is no chance of getting rid of them. Killing for the sake of killing is just a ridiculous waste.

Exactly...it would be an entirely pointless exercise.

[Grady2]

Kill em or eat um they don't belong here

[bulletbob]

Sorry, stupid laws are just that.. Some idiotic regulation put in place by a bureaucracy that thinks up regulations so that they can justify their salary... Killing a fish that you don't want to kill because the government says you must by law kill, and if not, you are in violation of DEC regulations??? Some anglers kill nothing, ever, under any condition, as they don't eat fish.. gonna force them to kill against their will??.. Ridiculous...
Sorry, I guess I am just not as noble, upstanding, moral, "good" as most... bob

[bulletbob]

Again an example from my home state.. the gobies in cayuga lake have just about eradicated the slower, and very timid sculpin .. they just can't compete with the ultra aggressive goby, and are doomed to extinction in the lake..
However, i can still put a sculpin on a hook in cayuga by law, although they are being wiped out.. However, the gobies that have destroyed them, and are decimating the lake are off limits as far as using for bait in the lake they have already ruined.. Some "fisheries expert" dreamed that law up, and most anglers adhere to it I imagine.. So protect the invader in this case, and do NOT protect the species going extinct because of them.. Makes perfect sense to some i guess. Not to me.... bob

[reason162]

Originally Posted by acabtp

this is a terrible attitude. the law is the law. your personal opinion doesn't enter in to it. if you don't like it, make public comments, lobby the council and get the law changed.

doing whatever you want instead makes you no better than the guy keeping a bucket full of 8" bass.

Lol...let's think about this for a moment.

Assuming the snakehead survives release, me catching it and returning it to the water is simply maintaining the status quo of the environment as I found it. You really think the state has the right to compel me to kill...anything?

Has there been any cases of this law being applied to anyone? Anyone get a ticket for releasing snakeheads into the same water body it was caught?