Catch and Release of Salmonids-Keep Them Wet

CATCH AND RELEASE OF SALMONIDS – KEEP THEM WET

Abstract:

There are many reasons for catch and release fishing. One reason is an unstated fishing guide business plan that assumes the more his clients release their catch the more likely tomorrow’s clients will catch a fish.  Another is that an angler from Chicago fishing an Oregon river doesn’t want to pack his fish home. Yet another reason is a caring respect for wild fish.  Then of course there is the rule punishable by fine forcing wild fish release because they are threatened with extinction. There are a lot of reasons to release one’s catch and the growth in this practice has encouraged fishery managers to change.  Instead of managing for kill fisheries the public is pressing for more regulated release fisheries, using conservation as the primary motivation.  A 2010 survey by DFO found that steelhead anglers in British Columbia were keeping only a third of the fish they caught. But anglers that release hatchery fish are contributing to the decline of wild fish from genetic and ecological impacts.