What would do?

[NCL]

This an ethics question that I encountered last week while fishing a C/R only lake. I hooked a fish very deep in the throat, I was able to get the fish off the hook but it took me a while to revive the fish which was able to fish away. While I was reviving the fish I began to wonder if the fish was going to make it and what should I do if the fish dies. I am against wanton waste of a resourse but I also don't want to be in violation of the law. So the question is: you are at a C/R only area and you inadvertanently kill a fish, what do you do?

[AndyK]

It depends on state regulations, but if you keep the fish you are in violation of the law. Let it float away.

We have the same problem with duck hunting. If you already have your limit and your retriever picks up a cripple, you need to release the cripple! If you keep the cripple you are "bagging it" and you are in violation of the law. I've had this discussion many times with Game officers.

[threetruck]

Great question. I think most of us have come across that situation, in one form or another. IMHO you've got to leave it where you caught it. It will become food for eagles, crawdads, and assorted other organisms in the lake. Whatever isn't eaten becomes nutrients that keep the life cycle going. If we're all doing the best we can to avoid situations like that, it's not wrong. I picture 'wanton waste' as avoidable, not what you describe.

[NCL]

Andy,

This question does cut across many outdoor activities, especially hunting, killing two with one shot etc. I guess it just seems ethically and morally wrong to leave the animal or fish. I know that in nature nothing is actually wasted but that is/was an ethic that I taught at a very early age to not waste any fish/animal. I guess those ethics taught as a child die hard.

[NCL]

Threetruck,

I had not thought of "wanton waste" as being defined as "avoidable", that is an excellant point. Wish I had though of that.

[FOSH]

I release the fish. Only thing to do!
I feel badly about killing a fish I'm not going to eat but don't consider it a waste. [I once had an osprey take a trout which had floundered back to the top after I released him (I had thought successfully) not more than 20 feet from my position.] Remember that all the fish in the stream/lake are going to die. Many sooner, some later. None will be wasted. You may have not eaten them, but the dead fish you return are not wasted. They've provided valuable recreation to you and others. Catch-and-release ensures more recreational value to the fish and the fishery. :applause:
Everyone worth spending time with hates to be the immediate cause of killing a fish on a C/R water and a dead fish is no longer part of the resource we value so much (catchable trout, BIG ones). But catch-and-release regulations or ethics allow a lot more catchable fish to remain in the system. If they're caught, an occasional one will die. :depressed: Of course, we do all we can to keep that number to an absolute minimum, but the best of us will kill some fish just by catching them.
The fish that are wasted are those that grow soft in our creels or get freezer burned after too long a rest at home. Those are the ones we should truly regret.
Release ALL fish caught on C/R waters!

[NCL]

Fosh,

Very thoughtful reply. Thank you.

[MikeT]

Andy,

Not to hijack the thread, but I've regularly had my dog find crippled ducks that would put me beyond the daily bag limit. I too release them, but was recently made aware of this Oregon Revised Statute:

498.016 Taking crippled or helpless wildlife. Nothing in the wildlife laws is intended to prohibit any person from killing any crippled or helpless wildlife when the killing is done for a humane purpose. Any person so killing any wildlife shall immediately report such killing to a person authorized to enforce the wildlife laws, and shall dispose of the wildlife in such manner as the State Fish and Wildlife Commission directs. [1973 c.723 §76]

Anyone know how the state police interpret this one?

thanks.....Mike

[NCL]

Mike,

I don't know how the State Police would interpret that law but I spent many years in Law Enforceemnt and I think the elements of the section are fairly clear. I would interpret it in the following manner the animal/bird would have to be crippled to the point of limited mobility, for example a bird that couldn't fly, a deer that couldn't walk. After dispatching the animal a Game Warden/Biologist would then have to be contacted regarding the taking of the species. What is not clear in the statute is if you take the animal or leave it in place :whazzup: and just report the location.

[BalouSC]

Regarding the fish. I have always taken a look as soon as I have landed the fish to see how deep the hook is. If I think it would be difficult at all to remove, I just cut the leader close to their mouth and revive and release. I don't know if you could have done this in your situation however. I once caught a native steelhead and while taking too many pictures the fish got in pretty bad shape. I spent the next 30 minutes carefully reviving the fish and when it swam off I think it was in great shape!

[NCL]

You are right I should have taken a closer look, it is an error I will not repeat. The fish swam off and looked alright. So I wasn't faced with the dilemma of what to do but it got me to thinking what I would do. In the future I will definitely be more careful and if the hook looks to deep I will just cut the line.

[ajfishfinder]

I believe this is part of the reason for the change in the "longer than the ears" reg on spike elk. How many times have you found short spiked bulls dead in the woods??? Now that is a terrible waste just because you run the chance of a big fat ticket. Sort of the same when you inadvertently drop a hen pheasant that poped up next to a rooster. Better just hope the dog doesen't bring the hen back to you.

[kimmosan]

I've read studies about C&R fishing that showed even carefully released fished suffer from injury or fatigue and die as a result of being caught. A small percentage of the fish you catch aren't going to make it. That percentage decreases if you follow the basic rules or C&R such as never removing the fish from the water, never squeezing the fish, using barbless hooks, etc. but it will never be zero. If you mortally injure a fish in no take water, your options are few. It becomes crawdad food.