Yes, it's not sport fishing, but commercial fishing, but nets do tend to let smaller ones get away and the bigger guys have a greater chance of getting snagged. Some fish, like some types of tuna, are harvested by line, and sport fishermen have noted a gradual decrease over the years in the size of trophy fish. Back in the 1950s, when US fishermen were catching tuna solely for cat food or to sell to the Japanese, tuna were enormous. Now the big ones are pretty much gone.

Add a Comment
Email This
Statistics

RSS


RE: Nonsense
I'm not entirely certain that the "we keep the big fish" theory is accurate. Sport fishing is not the threat that will wipe out entire species of fish. Commercial fishing is the culprit, and honestly, they don't throw anything back unless its the wrong kind of fish (remember the dolphin fiasco of the early 90s.) A sardine boat isn't going to throw back the small sardines because they don't fit the trophy limits. Incidentally, sport fishing limits are often "windows," i.e. a minimum size and a maximum size, mandating the release of the largest and smartest fish, even if they do happen to bite on my tasty fly. Pollution and mega-scale net fishing operations' indiscriminate kiling or harvesting is the threat.
View Full Discussion