http://now.msn.com/henry-liebman-catches-oldest-and-largest-rockfish-near-sitka-alaska
I don’t release every fish, but reallly…this dude couldn’t find it in himself to release a 200 year old fish? This really irks me.
Reading further, saw that this was caught in 900 feet of water, so that fish was most likely done for anyway. Food for thought, though.
quote:
Originally posted by ironskillethttp://now.msn.com/henry-liebman-catches-oldest-and-largest-rockfish-near-sitka-alaska
I don’t release every fish, but reallly…this dude couldn’t find it in himself to release a 200 year old fish? This really irks me.
Reading further, saw that this was caught in 900 feet of water, so that fish was most likely done for anyway. Food for thought, though.
After pulling it up from 900’ with eyes popping out of its head… The fish would have died anyway. Better to eat it than throw it back and waste it…
“Endeavor to Persevere.
Give,Give… Never Take.”
EC
Interesting site I found on the topic. Looks a little shady.
I would be surprised if it had survived after coming up from 900’.
“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
Read this story online and at first thought the same thing, but one of the commenters at the bottom of the article made a good point. If the fish would have survived after being brought up from 900’, the guy had no way of knowing that fish was 200 years old.
“…Livin’ and dyin’ in three quarter time”
-Jimmy Buffett, Nautical Wheelers
I’ll bet a 200 year old fish tastes great?@@!
Sea Hunt BX22 Br
WS Tarpon 140
it’s true. There’s no way he could have known he had a 200 year old fish on, nor could he have really done anything about the pressure drop. I like to hope he would have avoided hooking it. I can’t imagine 200 year old fish is very nice.
That’s one thing I admire about lots of the local anglers I’ve met (tourists less so, usually): they know what they’re doing,d how to minimize damage to fish, and protect the populations. And sometimes put food on the table.
That 200 year old rockfish fish brings up the discussion about how we protect old slow growing fish. MPAs are being discussed to protect Warsaw Grouper that grow very large over a long period of time. What do you guys think of creating a few small MPAs around new artificial reef habitat that is designed to support many different species including WG and placed on sandy barren bottom in appropriate areas? The argument against artificial reefs has been that they congregate fish and make them easier to catch. This should also make them easier to protect and negate the need for creating more MPAs around existing fishing areas. There are also products like the Seaqualizer that is very successful at pressurizing fish that come from deep water. Even fish with bulging eyes and stomachs seem to swim off fine after they reach a certain depth.
I’m all for marine protected areas for breeding fish populations to recover, for those species that need to bounce back. As long as regulations are logical, I’m in. And if those protected areas mean I have a better chance of catching a better variety, that sounds great.
also
I heard on NPR today, that scientists had determined that the rockfish from the article was actually only about 64 years old, not unusual for that species. It was just a big one. So no harm, no foul. I guess someone somewhere had just decided to call it 200 years old before testing was done. I’m sure there’s a lesson there.
ironskillet, MPAs can be helpful IF they are used properly. I have ZERO confidence in the council or that the proposed MPAs are anything more than a power grab to shut down some of the most productive areas. We need to promote our own MPA solutions rather than accepting the proposed plans or just saying no to them. Please join us in offering positive solutions for our fisheries through the SAFMC’s Visioning Project. http://www.freefish7.com/safmc-visioning-project.html
So since the fish was only 64 years old it is ok to keep. Iron skillet, would you keep an 18 pound flounder? I believe that would be a new state record, wonder how old it would be. I wonder how many “old” trees were cut down to clear the neighborhoods that some of you live in.
The bottom line is the fish was a legal catch, who cares how old the thing is.