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Ethical Angling Especially Important in Late Summer

Contact:
Patricia Smith, 252/726-7021

Posted Monday, August 17, 2009 as a courtesy to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

MOREHEAD CITY – Recreational anglers can do a lot to help conserve marine fisheries resources by learning how to handle the fish they catch and release.

This is especially true in late summer, when, for the fish, it becomes more of a life or death concern.

Research has shown that as sea water temperatures rise, so do post-release mortality rates for many species, such as red drum, striped bass and trout. Also, the longer a fish is out of the water, the less its chance for survival.

Anglers should handle fish gently and as little as possible before returning them to the water. Prevent the fish from thrashing around and hurting itself by gently gripping its body, keeping your fingers away from the gills. Larger fish, such as tarpon, can sustain internal injuries from being dragged on board a boat.

Do not use a towel to hold the fish; it removes protective mucous from the fish’s skin.

Use a pair of long-nose pliers to grip the middle of the bend of the hook and gently pull the hook free of the fish. Do not try to twist the hook free. If the barb has gone through the fish’s mouth, cut it off and pull the remainder of the hook free.

If the fish has swallowed the hook, cut the fishing line. Sometimes a fish can survive with a hook inside its stomach. Also, using circle hooks instead of traditional J hooks will help prevent the fish from swallowing the hook.

Here are a few other tips for ethical angling:

1. Learn and obey fishing size and creel limits. The best place to find current size and bag limits for saltwater fishing is on the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Web site, www.ncdmf.net.

2. Report violations. Call the N.C. Marine Patrol at 1-800-682-2632.

3. Know how to identify the fish you catch. You cannot properly apply size and bag limits if you do not know what fish is on your hook. Drawings and descriptions of many of the more popular recreational catches in coastal waters can be found in the North Carolina Coastal Recreational Angler’s Guide, available for free at many visitor’s centers and tackle shops and for download from the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Web site.

4. Practice catch-and-release. Don’t take the entire bag limit of fish just because it is legal to do so. If you’ve already got more fish than you know you will eat, let the others go when you catch them. Studies have shown that many released fish do survive to be caught another day.