Why we release some species of fish and not others?

[shak4g63]

I'm just wondering why some species of fish for example: flathead when they are a large size are released because they are breeders every one is like, well done, good to see you release them and so forth, however a fish like a large jewfish or king fish seldom get released, and the consensus is good feed and great catch!

When you look at it from a catch and release viewpoint all these fish stocks are crucial to the ecology and biodiversity of ongoing supply of breeding stock, which will ensure fish for our kids in the future.

We also have nsw fisheries which stipulate size and bag limits for this very purpose. Now if one was to keep a xos flatty for a feed it would be legal but socially frowned upon, but If the same was done for a breeding large jewfish it's a trophy to be shown to everyone and catch and release would not even be considered by most.

Same goes for certain introduced Fresh water species Like trout, red fin and carp, they are all competing with local species but trout is treated like the most important and valuable fish over say Redfin, both can be eaten but a redfin tastes just as good but certain people have a soft spot for them.

The issue I have is, now suppose if I wanted to keep a large flatty for a feed i feel majority of people would not approve and think I was not socially responsible.

But it's perfectly legal. Then why is there a favoritism towards one species not another in my eyes they are all gods creatures and deserve to live and there's nothing wrong if you want to eat them, as long as you aren't wasting them, as some people I know do.

I'm playing devils advocate here and people are entitled to their opinions.

Just want to know what are other people's logic about this..

Tight lines,

Shakeel

[Guest]

Anything legal is ok on fishraider and I release all my fish except the big bluefin I got on reef magic

[Day's Fishin]

Your logic is right Skakeel. Except for one thing all big Flathead are female and prolific breeders ensuring there are plenty of table size fish for you and me to catch and eat. If you can tell a female fish from a male fish of another type then release her too.

Regards Jeff

[adjustedpete]

If it is a good feed (imho) , then its coming home with me... But just enough for a feed, Then the rest go back.

[rockfisherman]

I hear what you're saying mate. Might be because lizards are soooo easy to catch, and it also might have something to do with the bag limit compared to those larger fish.

Fishingphase

[rjc123]

There are plenty of anglers who would still release a big jewfish mate. And I'm one of them. Would only keep them if i had to. For me i NEVER keep a flathead over 60cm (even though at that size they're probably still male). Having said this, there's nothing wrong with bringing a feed of fish home. Just "limit your kill, not kill your limit".

Cheers, Tom

[Scratchie]

I agree with all responses!!! If your fishing for a feed, IMO I believe you can take whatever is of legal size and limit for what you NEED.

Cheers scratchie!!!

[stevefish]

i reckon it also has to do with how fish move about as well.

if every bream, lizard, king and jew were taken out of, say, sydney harbour overnight, with the bait and everything else staying the same, from the next day kingfish would be moving in, jewfish and bream would be a bit slower but they would start coming back as well.

flatties would be a lot slower as they tend not to move up and down the coast as much.

if you kill a big kingfish, you are taking 1 fish from the kingfish poulation

if you kill a big flathead you are taking it and its potential offspring from where you are fishing, generally speaking.

happy frying

steve

[shak4g63]

Another note: is for me I understand some species which might not recover for example gem fish from the deep or if a fish gets gill hooked and doesn't make it back I would consider eating, but I hate to see a just undersized fish die and float away what a waste. If you keep them it's illegal such is the law and I wont risk it.

Tight lines,

Shakeel

Edited January 27, 2013 by 1 last cast

[nbdshroom]

What about if you consider that some fish school e.g., kingfish, jewfish etc. whilst for flathead it is more like a population of males until they reach a certain size and become a female so in that sense 1 female for 10 males (or something like that nb. I made up those numbers). I'm making the assumption that taking a big fish out of a school leaves many left. I believe that people release big barramundi much like they release breeder flathead.

[GreyNurse]

Actually that raises another question, what's answer might help determine whether we keep or release. Of all the popular species we catch around Australia, which are female at maturity (or legal size if you like), and which are male?

Nursie

[Marlin01]

Interesting topic and one I have a bit of first hand experience with as my family (including extended family ie.Mil and FIL ) love fish so I like to keep a fair amount of what I catch. I kryovak what we don't eat fresh and it is as good as fresh for months. Not to say I don't release some fish (which is treated by some as a near criminal offence) but I am certainly not adverse to keeping a good feed.

Last week I fished with a mate on the mid north coast and we got a feed, (10) spotted Mackeral with four people on board. The fish were iki jimed, bled and placed on ice ASAP. Whilst cleaning the fish a do gooder related that we had an excessive amount of fish. Upon reflection I choose to inform him he was ill informed and unaware of the circumstances relating to the distribution of the fish which were to be split three ways. I had travelled several hours to fish this one day and my freind was going home the next day (after a two week stay) and had been fishing for billfish primarily as such was keen for a few fish to take home. The dogooder started ranting about how tourists were wrecking the place and how he used to be able to catch boxes of mackeral some years earlier (thereby shooting himself in the foot and voiding any credibility he may have had). Two weeks on and I've got 5 meal sized bags remaining which will be gone in a month at this rate.

I used to fish with a guy who is a well known fishing show presenter who had a thing about releasing all marlin and would carry on like a goose if ha saw a beaky being butchered at the ramp. The same guy has probably done more harm to the east coast snapper fisheries by flogging the soft plastics wagon which, prior to him being shown, had been a well kept concept for many years. Bag limit catches of snapper at Port Stephens featuring several fish over the 3 or 4 kg mark and indeed all along the East coast have become fairly commonplace and present a real concern IMO to the long term health of this fishery. To my view this elitism and hypocracy is very prevelant especially with special regard to billfish. I have seen lots more billfish than five kilo snapper but bring the latter to a cleaning table and you'll hear praise, bring the former and you'll more than likely cop a slagging from some parrot nearby. I certainly am not endorsing the mass killing of billfish but if that's what you fish for knocking one on the head now and again is quite sustainable.

Any way that's my rant, basically fish responsibly, and don't bag anyone for keeping a fish to eat.

Cheers

Marlin01

[shak4g63]

Interesting topic and one I have a bit of first hand experience with as my family (including extended family ie.Mil and FIL ) love fish so I like to keep a fair amount of what I catch. I kryovak what we don't eat fresh and it is as good as fresh for months. Not to say I don't release some fish (which is treated by some as a near criminal offence) but I am certainly not adverse to keeping a good feed.

Last week I fished with a mate on the mid north coast and we got a feed, (10) spotted Mackeral with four people on board. The fish were iki jimed, bled and placed on ice ASAP. Whilst cleaning the fish a do gooder related that we had an excessive amount of fish. Upon reflection I choose to inform him he was ill informed and unaware of the circumstances relating to the distribution of the fish which were to be split three ways. I had travelled several hours to fish this one day and my freind was going home the next day (after a two week stay) and had been fishing for billfish primarily as such was keen for a few fish to take home. The dogooder started ranting about how tourists were wrecking the place and how he used to be able to catch boxes of mackeral some years earlier (thereby shooting himself in the foot and voiding any credibility he may have had). Two weeks on and I've got 5 meal sized bags remaining which will be gone in a month at this rate.

I used to fish with a guy who is a well known fishing show presenter who had a thing about releasing all marlin and would carry on like a goose if ha saw a beaky being butchered at the ramp. The same guy has probably done more harm to the east coast snapper fisheries by flogging the soft plastics wagon which, prior to him being shown, had been a well kept concept for many years. Bag limit catches of snapper at Port Stephens featuring several fish over the 3 or 4 kg mark and indeed all along the East coast have become fairly commonplace and present a real concern IMO to the long term health of this fishery. To my view this elitism and hypocracy is very prevelant especially with special regard to billfish. I have seen lots more billfish than five kilo snapper but bring the latter to a cleaning table and you'll hear praise, bring the former and you'll more than likely cop a slagging from some parrot nearby. I certainly am not endorsing the mass killing of billfish but if that's what you fish for knocking one on the head now and again is quite sustainable.

Any way that's my rant, basically fish responsibly, and don't bag anyone for keeping a fish to eat.

Cheers

Marlin01

mate the fishing presenter your talking about sounds like jk , "stop the bus" I sometimes wonder about these famous fishing personalities on camera they are acting all catch n release but turn off the cameras who knows whats going on, makes you wonder..... Hmmm

Tight lines,

Shakeel

[spaners]

mate the fishing presenter your talking about sounds like jk , "stop the bus" I sometimes wonder about these famous fishing personalities on camera they are acting all catch n release but turn off the cameras who knows whats going on, makes you wonder..... Hmmm Tight lines, Shakeel

I don't trust any of the fishing presenters anymore.Most of the shows are too staged nowadays and are only on to flog product.I like to watch for the stuff ups,starts with red braid then shows the next shot blue braid on a different rod then shows the fish with a green sp in its mouth but de hooks a red one.Its comical really.Then we rush out and buy the same gear....

[RichieR]

I personally release all flathead I catch over 60cm - I did some reading in the past and here is my reason for doing so.

A flathead that grows to 1m has taken between 15 and 17 YEARS to get to that size.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/375878/Dusky-Flathead.pdf

For me to take such an old, important fish - a large breeder that has produced probably hundreds of young and has been around for 15 - 17 years just for a feed or two doesnt seem right to me when flathead are so easy to catch. I'd rather take a photo and let her go and keep fishing for some smaller models for dinner.

When you look at Jewfish or Kingfish that grow to the same size in 5 - 7 years, it doesn't even compare to me.

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/375969/Yellowtail-Kingfish.pdf
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/375919/Mulloway.pdf

I cant argue with the rules - it is legal to take Flathead over 70cm - But I personally will never do it because letting them live means more to me than a single feed.

Anyway, that is my reason - I would be curious to hear what others have to say.

Edited January 29, 2013 by RichieR

[seacow]

I guess what I would like to know or at least be more informed about are the growth rates and reproductive ages for these fish before making any real qualified statements.

For instance Jewfish size limit is 45cm but my (limited albeit) knowledge is that they do not reach sexual maturity until 60cm and above. Taking one fish before they have had any real chance to reproduce could only be a bad thing. Taking a bag limit of these fish (while quite legal and I respect that) could only be a worse thing. My thoughts are that limits should be simply based upon the science. But then again "who's science?" The more information shared by fishers like us to those people making the regulations could only be a good thing.

Then there is my "pretty factor" which has no scientific reasoning what so ever. Sometime I say that a fish is just too pretty for me to keep. This is usually when I have nothing in the swimmer and I catch one just before I intend to leave and have no interest in cleaning them.

The fact that I don't eat them obviously reduces my credibility in the discussion.