Returning fish - chat carried on from a different thread

[zigs]

ChanellG said

But Zigs, are you fishing with a hook? Isn't that like hitting a deer with an arrow, taking it out and turning the deer loose again? Not to mention the stress of being trapped; I'm sure the poor things have heart trouble afterward, or at least panic attacks. Think about it.

I agree Chanell, I wouldn't want to fish just for sport, but fishing for food often results in catching species that are not good to eat, the fish don't know that, they just find something tasty on the hook.

There is also a stupid frenzy that overtakes people when the schoals are in. Most serious anglers will only take what they need for the table, but season after season we see holiday makers catching loads of fish that they can't possibly use, they can't seem to stop themselves.

We try to educate them but it keeps happening.

An angler knows that Mackerell need to be kept cold once caught, the fats in them very quickly break down into histamine on a hot beach, yet the holiday makers leave them lying in the sun. Maybe thats natural selection in action though.

I've got a sticky thread on a fishing forum thats all about safely returning fish that are undersized or not needed for the table, its had 77,000 hits so hopefully the word is spreading.

Am I allowed to put a link to that on here Mods?

The more people that know, the more fish will survive.

 

[ChanellG]

Putting back fish that are too small obviously isn't the same as sport catch and release. There is actually a law here that protects redfish because of over fishing. If they are below a certain size, you legally have to put them back.

On another thread you and Jed talked about hanging badgers as a means of generating a particular food source (yeck!) I suppose that would be an easier way to get fish close enough to the surface to be scooped with a net, but unfortunate for the poor badger.

 

[zigs]

You're going to love this one, i've recently found out that its illegal to be in posession of a Dead Badger in England & Wales

You couldn't make that one up if you tried

We do use groundbait to atract some fish, but with fishing from the beach its not practical to use a net. I've caught Sprats from the Harbour wall with a drop net, but you have to wait for them to be chased by bigger fish, When they are just swimming round the harbour they will see the net coming & just swim away.

When they're being chased they throw themselves on the beach to get away. Sprats are related to Herring, a good oily fish with lots of omega 3.

 

[ChanellG]

Okay, why is it illegal? Are badgers revered as sacred animals? (Joke)

How big are the Sprats? I have an idea for the drop net -- how about suspending bait on a line that doesn't have a hook? We catch crabs in these collapsible two-tiered nets using fish heads as bait. You attach the fish heads with a metal shower curtain "ring". When you pull the nets up the crabs are sitting in them having a snack.

I'll bet there has to be a way to do something like that with something fish would eat where you could just scoop them up with a net (the kind with a long handle). I don't know, it's an idea, lol.

 

[zigs]

Nothing wrong with a bit of Badger worship

Badgers are a protected species here, same as bats, if you get bats in your loft, you aren't even allowed to go in there.

Sprats are about 6 inches long, but they make up for their size by appearing in millions, you can't see the seabed for them.

I fish for Prawns like you say, a bit of bait tied across the mouth of the net, leave it five minutes and pull up quickly, get the occasional fish in there, usually only small stuff & eels though.

Can't catch Eels here anymore, the stocks have crashed to 2% of what they were 20 years ago. Yet they still issue licences to catch Elvers, the tiny young ones, which get sold to Japan as a delicacy for about £1000 a kilo. Madness.

 

[ChanellG]

Maybe you should start farming elvers, lol. You might actually be able to retire early.

Sprats sound similar to sardines. If I had bats in a loft I wouldn't want to go there! I think if I went somewhere that was known for having bats around, I'd have to invest in a few bat houses as a preventive measure.

 

[zigs]

Sprats are closely related to Sardines, there was a huge fishing industry in Cornwall for them which crashed after the war as people had got fed up of surviving on them. They were called Pilchards here. They re branded them as Cornish Sardines & it picked up again, people are odd.

Can't breed Eels in captivity, they are born in the rivers of europe but then cross the Atlantic to mate in the Sargasso Sea before swimming back to the rivers to spawn.

It used to be that they swam down the river to mate in the estuary, but that was when Europe and America were together.

They just didn't notice the 2 land masses moving apart by a few inches a year, now that estuary has become the Atlantic Ocean they still swim to the same spot to mate each year.

Eels are a bit thick

 

[ChanellG]

They cross the entire Atlantic? That's amazing!

 

[zigs]

Even they don't know why they do it anymore.

I wonder how many other migrations are influenced by plate tectonics?

 

[ChanellG]

Hmmmm... I'd say that's a research project. Be sure to let me know what you find out, lol!