Catch & Release Discussion

[blackcloud9]

(One correction to my last post - approx 250,000 lbs of WSB is the total commercial take of
seabass annually with approx 50,000 of that taken using gillnets)

May I suggest that you read the following WSB Report Card, end to end.
There are many mind boggling statistics in the charts, and, I promise that
you will learn a lot about the fish itself.

Page 6 shows in 1959, 3.5 million pounds of WSB was taken commercially
in California!!! Thats like 140,000 25 pound fish!!

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/c...bassReport.pdf

The boat I mentioned was a regular ol' commercial boat, one of 140 that
target white seabass in CA, not a CPFV (sportboat). A sportboat is not
licensed to catch commercially that's "sport take" not "commercial take",
and in CA, cannot be sold commercially. In other states besides CA,
things are different.

For many different reasons, the commercial guys are extremely silent
about what they catch. They catch it, and it goes to market, and they
make money. The less people that know how or when they caught fish,
the better for them. Go to the fish market, look at the fish - ever wonder
where those big WSB, and halibut come from?

BTW, Recreational catches are staggering too. Take a look at the table in
on the bottom of this page where it says "Annual Landing Totals" in black ...
http://www.sportfishingreport.com/pa...?landing_id=20

From their own counts, in 2009, this landing alone sacked:
-- 41,000 calico bass
-- 37,000 rockfish
and
-- 12,000 yellowtail.

One landing.

I'm not out to pick on commercials, sporties or anyone, just thought I may
help you understand where many others on this board are coming from, as
I thought I saw the "disconnect". Your comments welcome.

[dos ballenas]

Originally Posted by blackcloud9

For many different reasons, the commercial guys are extremely silent
about what they catch. They catch it, and it goes to market, and they
make money. The less people that know how or when they caught fish,
the better for them. Go to the fish market, look at the fish - ever wonder
where those big WSB, and halibut come from?

.

BINGO!

These guys are otw for a living. And its not a some kind of secret. The ocean is a big and very dynamic ecosystem.

Anyways, back on the cnr subject...

fwi, most thresher sharks which are tail hooked and played to exhaustion do NOT recover from the battle after being released. Different species have different survivorship rates... fact, not all fish that are released are going to survive. Even fish that swim away apparently okay die sometimes. Once again, there are many reasons why released fish may or may not survive.

And... fish that are of legal size have usually spawned once or twice. Size limits are set to insure that each fish is given a chance to reproduce. I don't think you should feel bad for harvesting a big legal fish ever.

Originally Posted by lamb

I used to be "shoot all that moves" kind of fisherman, D50 club. I'm not as "cruel" nowadays. I now like to release all bass, will let barely legal halibut live, mostly release those one year old summer YT rats.

I occasionally eat them too, it's dictated by the current situation in the fridge/freezer. I never freeze YT.

We eat it while fresh, leftovers we hand out to take care of good friends. I hear over and over how much they loved it.

A lot to be learned from this lamb guy... it aint bad getting free avocados from time to time...

For some people it takes a lot of yellowtail to realize that it don't freeze all that good!

Have fun!

[dsafety]

Larry,

Thanks again for the contining education.

One question though. Where do the recreational fish cactch numbers come from. Except for once last summer when some kid with a DFG shirt on asked me a bunch of questions about where I was fishing and what I caught, I have never been asked or reported a catch.

Assuming that I am not alone, I am curious as to where the numbers come from. Does someone just pull a number from a hat?

Bob

[blackcloud9]

Bob, Regarding recreational fish-catch counts, people that fish sportboats
are never asked because the boat and/or landing is required to provide
fish counts. Kayakers are more difficult to find, and most private boaters
are used to seeing the surveys at the launch/landing area (I believe).

And sorry, I forgot to answer your other question above regarding the
commercial guys and limits. Commercial fishermen are not regulated by
DFG "sport" limits, if any at all.

See http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/fishing.asp#Commercial for more info.

Larry

[dsafety]

Originally Posted by blackcloud9

Bob, Regarding recreational fish-catch counts, people that fish sportboats
are never asked because the boat and/or landing is required to provide
fish counts. Kayakers are more difficult to find, and most private boaters
are used to seeing the surveys at the launch/landing area (I believe).

And sorry, I forgot to answer your other question above regarding the
commercial guys and limits. Commercial fishermen are not regulated by
DFG "sport" limits, if any at all.

See http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/fishing.asp#Commercial for more info.

Larry

I know that you answered the question but if you read your answer, it seems that there are a lot of holes in the data collection techniques. Can we have any faith in the numbers that we have been presented?

Bob

[cioppino]

116_1614.jpg

Heres a good example of catch and release Bob. Unfortunately they all rushed the scuppers at the same time and failed to make it back in the water!

I love Cedros Island.

Our fisheries health starts and ends with commercial fishing. You can catch and release all you want if thats what makes YOU happy. As long as everyone follows the regs then any problem you have with it is just that, your problem.

I have made this comparison before but I will revisit it. Take a City lake for this analogy. Large mouth bass are not stocked. There is a reasonable take and size limit. They are targeted YEAR long almost everyday. Some fishermen take their limit every time, while others practice catch n release. Large mouth bass are not in danger of being over fished in these lakes. Anglers arent descimating LMB populations to the point of collapse. LMB are growing huge and their overall stocks are doing just fine.

I talk about fresh water bass fishing because it is a prime example of a controlled environment not subject to commercial fishing. It is a healthy and sustainable fishery without MLPAs and without seasonal closures.

Now lets take that same City lake and set me and my commercial gillnet boat loose in that same lake. In a matter of days you would have a fishery on the verge of collapse, one in diar need of serious regulating. What was once a ballanced and viable fishery for decades would be toast!

My final babbling point, Bob due what makes you happy. Just dont hassle someone who isnt breaking the law and is well within the state regs by taking three fish in a week. Dont fool yourself by believing releasing fish is going to bring back any fishery when those same fish get their buts kicked by commercial fishermen.

Get out there and catch some fish, you will feel a lot better.

[dsafety]

Cioppino,

You and I will continue to disagree on this subject but I respect your opinion and your right to have it. You and others have made some very valid points about the harmful affect that can come as a result of irresponsible commercial fishing activities. On that subject we are in total agreement.

I am hopeful that by starting this discussion I was not perceived to be "hassling" anyone in particular. That certainly was not my intent.

Bob

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by dos ballenas

For some people it takes a lot of yellowtail to realize that it don't freeze all that good!

They freeze well if you freeze them whole.

For both tuna and Yellowtail I just cut the tails and heads off, gut them then roll them in butcher paper and freeze them whole with the skin on like the Japanese do.


My freezer looks like a stack of logs. When I want to eat one I pull it out cross cut the amount I want to eat that week off with my band saw, and throw the rest back in the freezer.

When it thaws, you cut the skin and exposed ends off its' sashimi quality, and you have a couple of days to eat it before it starts going bad.

Most sushi you eat at restaurants including Hamachi has been frozen, it's all in how you freeze it.

Jim

[-scallywag-]

I like this post, good points on each side without the "d-nossle" comments (i guess i like those too, but we have BD for that).

I will continue to look forward to the day that I get to release my next YT or WSB.....not because I think it will help the fishery, but for the same selfish reasons most of us fish....its an awsome experiece!! (and because if I'm releasing delisious YT or WSB, either the freezer's full or the bite is WFO and I'm weeding thru the schoolers lookin for my next PB!!).

FREEZING FISH:
I'm pretty sure they (commercial ships) flash freeze the fish to a super low temperature to minimize the amount of sublimation (freezer burn or de-hydration) that occurs, after that the fish are stored and transported in a "normal" freezer where they very slowly warm back up to just below freezing, which could take weeks. As long as the fish in the freezer are colder than the freezer itself sublimation, generally will not occur. Basically the opposite of freeze-drying. So from a scientific stand point I think that vacuum sealing/freezing is still the best way for us, but after reading Jims post I think vacuum sealing/freezing the whole fish would be even better, or more practical, in big chunks with the skin on.

[Pat]

I hear a nice flattie was released this morning.

[dgax65]

Originally Posted by -scallywag-

FREEZING FISH:
I'm pretty sure they (commercial ships) flash freeze the fish to a super low temperature to minimize the amount of sublimation (freezer burn or de-hydration) that occurs, after that the fish are stored and transported in a "normal" freezer where they very slowly warm back up to just below freezing, which could take weeks. As long as the fish in the freezer are colder than the freezer itself sublimation, generally will not occur. Basically the opposite of freeze-drying. So from a scientific stand point I think that vacuum sealing/freezing is still the best way for us, but after reading Jims post I think vacuum sealing/freezing the whole fish would be even better, or more practical, in big chunks with the skin on.

With a little advanced preparation and a little money you can easily come up with a close approximation of how they freeze fish on commercial vessels. The advanced preparation is buying dry ice and pre-chilling a cooler before you go fishing. It helps to have the dry ice in the cooler for at least several hours so that the interior of the cooler has been brought down as close to the dry ice temperature as it is going to get. This is also the expensive step. Dry ice is generally about $1/lb and you will probably need 10-20lbs. This works out OK if you know you are going to catch fish, but if you are like me, it could be a waste of money when you don't catch anything. When you get your catch ashore, you should remove the head and tail and gut it. Wrapping in butcher paper would help protect it as well. Just open the cooler long enough to slide the fish in. Once the fish is in the cooler, don't touch it or open the cooler for at least 12 hours. By then it should be rock-hard. If you plan on keeping it frozen for a while, you might want to bag and vacuum seal it before you transfer it to the freezer.

The advantage of the dry ice is that it freezes the fish much more rapidly than a regular home freezer. Evidently, rapid freezing results in smaller ice crystals, which do less damage to cell walls. This will give you a much better texture when thawed. I have done this a few times with YT and halibut and it seems to work very well. Freezing will also kill those nasty parasites, so you can use the fish for sashimi after thawing (even salmon and halibut).

BTW:This is also an excellent way to freeze delicate fruits like strawberry, blackberry and raspberry.