Just alittle FYI for those that may actully care about the offshore community. If the fish isn’t 63 inches and you decide to release it then at least read this article so that you are aware of what the veterans and The Billfish Foundation recommend you do.
Sailfish - Treat’em Right And They Will Live To Fight Another Day
By Adrian Watt
The Billfish Foundation (TBF) has done a lot to promote billfish conservation and has been instrumental in shifting past catch-and-kill practises to Tag & Release in most parts of the world. We fully support TBF and Tag & release all billfish from our game boats, the only exceptions being a fish that is clearly a National or World record.
TBF have noticed an increasing tendency nowadays for some anglers to lift a billfish (particularly sailfish) out of the water to photograph the angler with his catch.
If you choose to Tag & Release, there are four very good reasons not to lift your billfish out of the water:
To state the obvious – Fish can’t breathe out of the water and a billfish brought to the transom will almost certainly be, at the very least, ‘out of breath’. If you lift the fish out of the water, you are starving the fish of oxygen just when it needs it most. Imagine running up a flight of stairs and then trying to hold your breath when you get to the top.
Fish have a protective coat of slime on their bodies that helps them fight infection and parasites. In hauling out a large fish and handling (even with gloves), you will inevitably damage or remove some of this coating.
The billfish’s skeleton is designed to support the fish in water – not in air. If you haul a sailfish over the transom and try to hold it up, you are probably causing internal damage which may later kill the fish.
A thrashing billfish in the cockpit? Are you nuts? It’s just going to injure itself and maybe you too! If the fish is so exhausted that it can’t kick, lifting it out of the water and starving it of oxygen is likely to be the last straw.
Good job G1, how about barracudas. Did you find anything on proper care and handling? Is there a local chapter of “ACCF” (Atlantic Coastal Cuda Foundation)?
I don’t catch Barracudas. And I don’t think their numbers are in any danger. But it is the internet and I’ll bet if you do a search you can find a website about them.
However, given my knowledge and understanding of mother nature I would bet that the same is true for Barracudas as is for Sailfish. Get them to the boat as fast as possible and simply cut the leader as close to the fish’s mouth as possible without removing the fish from the water.
However, given my knowledge and understanding of mother nature I would bet that the same is true for Barracudas as is for Sailfish. Get them to the boat as fast as possible and simply cut the leader as close to the fish’s mouth as possible without removing the fish from the water.
Yeah lets all stop fishing, there’s a chance we might cause harm to one or two of the fish we catch. Sorry we brought a sail in the boat because we wanted a picture and it was my first billfish. From now on I’ll probably just leave them in the water, and everyone who wired the fish now has better knowledge of how to do it in the future. The first time you dealt with a billfish did you do everything exactly right?
I’ve eaten marlin,but never sailfish.I wonder what they’d be like on the grill.We’ve seen alot more sails than tuna this year.Maybe I’d be more of a conservationist if I ate a sail rather than a large yellowfin.I wonder how many more billfish would be alive if the Big Rock wasn’t going on this week?Go to Morehead this week and say you want to catch a blue just to eat it and you’ll probably be linched in public by the same folks that dry them out for $.I don’t get it.If someone catches their first sail with me,we’re pulling it in and getting some pics.If you want to reely protect billfish,then don’t ever eat anything that could possibly come off of a longliner.Until we stop longliners and shrimpboats ,as we did inshore trawling,most of our saltwater regulations and conservation efforts are for naught…Just my 150/th of a gallon of gas worth.
Nuts-it’s impossible to share knowledge with “me first” mentalities. For a site that’s about sharing info you beginner fishermen really get your panties in a wod when someone suggests a better way to release a billfish so just take it for what it’s worth and call him a PETA lover as usual if you can’t formulate a better argument for why you didn’t eat the fish you brought in the boat.
The first time you dealt with a billfish did you do everything exactly right?
No. Our fish was hooked in the eye and tried to remove the hook. We should’ve just cut the leader.
I also didn’t cry like a baby when a veteran captain at the dock told us our mistake. We asked him why it was better to leave the hook in and he told us an answer. We were grateful for his knowledge and explanation.
Why are so fussy about people with more knowledge telling you a healthier and safer way to release a sailfish?
Yeah lets all stop fishing, there’s a chance we might cause harm to one or two of the fish we catch.
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And why the extremeist atittude? I have no problem with you or me killing fish. Don’t act like this is a tree hugger situation just because you think you can spin the conversation that way.
Answer me this, why did you release the fish at all? Was it because you wanted it to live? If you want the fish to live then try not to remove it from the water.
I’ve eaten marlin,but never sailfish.I wonder what they’d be like on the grill.We’ve seen alot more sails than tuna this year.Maybe I’d be more of a conservationist if I ate a sail rather than a large yellowfin.I wonder how many more billfish would be alive if the Big Rock wasn’t going on this week?Go to Morehead this week and say you want to catch a blue just to eat it and you’ll probably be linched in public by the same folks that dry them out for $.I don’t get it.If someone catches their first sail with me,we’re pulling it in and getting some pics.If you want to reely protect billfish,then don’t ever eat anything that could possibly come off of a longliner.Until we stop longliners and shrimpboats ,as we did inshore trawling,most of our saltwater regulations and conservation efforts are for naught…Just my 150/th of a gallon of gas worth.
“Give war a chance!”
Eddie, this is the same debate we have every year. And you are correct about ordering seafood at restaraunts. I avoid it as best as possible. Occasionally I get a sushi craving and buckle. However, Salmon is my favorite and I like to think it is mostly farm raised.
However, I know a few guys that used to longline. They all say that the billfish bycatch is nowhere near the levels people think it is.
Now there are lots and lots of recreational fishermen these days. And the number is only growing. Everyone needs to do their part. Thge internet reaches very far and there are a lot of people catching sailfish off our coast that weren’t even fishing 3-5 years ago. I just hate to see the hard work done by people 25 years ago to save the species go unreckognized by uneducated and ignorant fishermen that do not even know the dangers they pose to a fish that they are trying to release unharmed.
Nothing wrong with trying to teach people the right way to do things.
I do admit, it is a little frustrating after working a deck for 6 years in Florida and remembering the care we took to get the fish released as quickly and painlessly as possible then to see so many people just rip them up out of the water and basically kill them for a photo.
hell, i thought all the bleedin’ hearts were out in california sippin’ on man juice. we got a whole forum full of 'em hear.
we fish the cold waters up north, where men got balls and theres none of this summer lovin’ weekend warrior pansy galavantin you call fishin’ here south. rich boys sportin’ your rich toys is all ya are.
If you’re so concerned about the well-being of billfish, maybe you just shouldn’t fish for them at all…
That is the key difference between Conservation and Environmentalism. Conservation minded people actually exploit the resource…but they also spend time and money to help promote the resource through a number of methods.
Environmentalists do not think any animal, plant, or ecosystem should be killed or molested by mankind…and frankly, they do not like mankind all that all that much and posses autophobic tendencies…
Greg has offered some advice here. You are free to use it if you like…
but do not turn this into an Envirnmental issue, when it is clearly a conservation issue…
