I fished Lake Nokomis this past Friday at dusk from the shore. I recommend the spot for anyone starting out or bringing a kid fishing. At one point I caught a Black Crappie that swallowed the hook pretty deep. In trying to get it out, the fish started bleeding and I had fish blood running down my arm and eventually got the hook out by twisting it out with a pair of pliers. I threw it back and it swam away, but a bleeding fish soon turns into food. Now, at Nokomis rollerbladers and joggers mix with anglers, often Hmong and Hispanic. Two different cultures. Since non-anglers saw my bloody arm, I saw the event through their eyes and had to try to sort out the ethics of catch and release fishing for myself once again.
The initial and powerful argument I have about all hunting and fishing is that the benefits to the environment vastly outweigh the harm you are doing to individual animals. Hunters and anglers pay for natural resources with the licenses they buy. They are well organized and often provide the political pressure needed for clean water, conservation programs and habitat creation. They are also the ones who are out there tromping around in the environment and are therefore better connected to the environment. I can think of recreational activities like golf that are much more destructive. But catch and release fishing seems to harm fish for the purpose of pleasure. Hurting one of god's creatures for the fun of it. It is one thing to catch and eat fish but another to catch and release. As Kate said, "How would you like it if some trans-dimensional being was giving us aneurisms or making us crash our cars for sport?"
A couple of the rationalizations I came up with:
It's ok because fish are about as conscious as bugs and we really aren't causing them much harm. Not every fish survives catch and release fishing, but most do. The Minnesota DNR says that almost all fish caught with lures and released properly will survive.
It's ok because I am learning to fish. In a sense, I have a duty to do this because it reduces the separation between me and the natural environment. Fishing is participation in creation. I could see a movie instead, but how much waste and harm is caused by building a movie theatre on a wetland, wasting $8, and contributing to all the waste that goes into movie production? And how about simply driving a car or applying herbicides?
It's ok because my participation in fishing and my purchase of a license are environmentally and ethically sound things to do. Although I am causing harm to one fish, I am benefiting Black Crappies as a species.
There are several ways to make catch and release fishing less harmful:
- File off the barb on hooks.
- Fish with lures instead of bait.
- Keep hand wet when handling fish or keep the fish in the water.
- Set the hook (pull on the rod) early rather than late. This will prevent a throat hook.
- Cut the line if fish is throat hooked. The hook will dissolve quickly.
- Don't drop the fish or toss it back in the water. Instead, slide the fish into the water.
- Clip one of the three trebel hooks to make it easier to remove the hook.
5:35:43 PM 
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