The "Catch and Release" Principle » Yachts & Boats

We hear the words "catch and release" more frequent lately. This word combination is met almost on every page in the prints devoted to a fishing subject. It comes to the funny things. It was in a magazine, exceptionally advertising publication, illustrated richly with the pictures of fishermen near the mountains of the caught fish, and here you come across this precious formula. Especially touching looks a phrase "only on the catch and release principle" in a taimen fishing commercial, where a happy fisherman has his picture taken with taimen victoriously lifted by its gill... blood streams abundantly on its belly from the pierced gill vessels.

The "catch and release" is an essential sign of the good form, it's a synonym of the "civilized" fishing, an ideal which all of us should strive for as hard as we can. Everybody catches fish this way in the United States already. Some countries are still far away from this.
But is the "catch and release" method as good as it may seem at first?

Fishing Philosophy
It may be difficult to demand from fishermen enormous majority release the caught fish. They eat it and it is almost the only source of protein food for many people. But a question is not of this. Let us look at fishing not as an active rest, not as a hobby, but a little bit wider. Let us look at fishing as it existed when the rivers and lakes were clean and full of fish, Fishing Philosophy

people did not read newspapers and did not watch TV sets, as neither these nor that existed. Fishing came then to a simple and clear formula, "catch - feed yourself and your family - live". That was one of those numberless threads connected our ancestors to the nature, and due to which they felt themselves part of this nature. Technical progress made people life more pleasant and safer, but its price is a loss of that primary bond of man with the nature.

People always aimed to make the world comfortable for life. We walk on asphalt, not on land, we do not distinguish stars behind the city lights in the night sky. We change our world more and more, making it unrecognizable. It becomes alien for us. We stop understanding it, stop feeling. We stop loving it. Our countless ecological problems are founded on this detachment.

Fishing is one of those not many threads remained whole, which still binds us to the nature, returns us that world lost a long time ago. A man recalls through fishing that he is the part of the nature. And this unconscious memory makes our heart beat and drive blood in the veins faster, when the hand feels a live weight of fish on the strain fishing-line. Because ancient "barbarian" instincts of hunter and getter, "catch - feed them – live", live in us, in our ancestral memory, in genes, under all "cultural" layers.

What catch and release principle introduces to all of this? It changes all the scenery. Fishing is a cruel thing, but deeply natural. But as soon as "feed and live" is divided from "catch", fishing turns into one more amusement among many other amusements. And this amusement is not less cruel.

Other Ways to Save the Fish
Some may say that "catch & release" is a necessary thing to save fish. But may be there are other ways to do that? And if there are, why then the "catch & release" principle gained such fame and popularity? Indeed, there is mass of examples when application of this principle allowed to restore the quantity of fish populations, almost completely destroyed by fishing amateurs. But there is another way. It is fishing license. For example, fish releasing is practiced rarely in Germany and is totally statute-prohibited in some states. Fishermen pay money for possibility Catch and release in fishing

to catch fish instead (Annual State Fishing License), and this money is used for a purpose, to maintain necessary conditions of fish existence in a pond. There is also another way, great number of ponds for fishing requiring payment exists now. This is kind of licensed fishing model. And the plenty of fishermen visiting such ponds shows this model works, or can work at least.

The Origin of "Catch & Release" Principle
So why exactly the "catch & release" principle? It both as moral and legal requirement appeared and got wide spread occurrence in 60th of the last century in the USA. Fish resources appeared undermined in many ponds of the country after World War II, and the scales of amateur fishing began to decrease. Amateur fishing became already the basis of highly remunerative business in the USA by that time. For example, fishing amateurs spent totally for there fishing needs $21 million in 1960 only in Idaho state. Toughening of the license regulations and introduction of the additional limitations on the fishing period would fix situation with the fish population, but would inevitably result in the decline of fishermen number at the ponds, and consequently in the business slump. All possible introduction of the "catch & release" principle was the right commercial decision in this situation, it allowed to save both the fish and the money of the business corporations, earning on this.

catch and release fishermen

But "catch & release" is not as widespread in the USA now as many tend to think. Different forms of fishing license have not a less value there. But why do we accept with such readiness, almost as the code of fishing honour, what in its essence belongs more to the commerce area, and then to the fishing? May be because it is easier, one can do both, amuse himself and his conscience seems clear. The wolves are sated and the sheep intact.

The "Catch and Release" Principle and Practice
There are many situations while fishing when a fisherman has to release the fish, even if he is not a supporter of "catch and release" principle. One wants to catch a big fish, but only small one is caught. What would he do with it? He has to release it. One is catching a lenok and a pike is caught, he has to release it. Finally, one has caught fish for meal, but he still has a desire to fish (some fishermen stop fishing in such situation, but not everybody are able to display such heroism). But all of these situations, as well as many others, do not relate to the "catch and release" principle. This is normal and inevitable fishing practice of "catch and release". But, the higher skill the fisherman has, the rarer such situations appear.

So what's in the upshot? Licensing of the amateur fishing is attended by problems and difficulties, and enormous work should be done both by ichthyologists, sociologists and economists before serious decisions would be accepted in this direction. Still, one practically possible method of effective protection for some ponds and fish types today is the strict introduction of the "catch and release" principle.

All of written above has a goal. Today, when more and more fishermen begin to think of the problems how to save fish, ponds and there favourite pastime, it is very important to look at the world with wide opened eyes, it is important to get rid of illusions and try to understand for yourself what is morally and therefore usefully, and what is immorally and therefore harmful.