i have a feeling some of it has to do with money spent to fish. i believe most people who freshwater fish generally stay local to their homes and can often fish from shore and not spend much money more than on gas, so the release doesn't hurt as much. plus, how many fresh water fish in NJ are really worth eating? I personally don't really care for freshwater fish besides an occasional trout.
saltwater tends to cost more for a lot of us. the cost of gas to and from the boats, the cost if you charter (especially) or go on a party boat or the cost of gas to get to the fishing grounds if you have your own boat. spending all that money makes keeping a catch to eat more worthwhile in my opinion. i personally only get on the ocean 10-15 times per year and my wife and i eat the fish i catch or i am able to spread the fillets to family and friends. i seem to get skunked on half of those trips when i should have been there the day before, haha! so, when i finally catch an edible fish, I'm keepin' it!!
it has really come down to obey the laws and eat what you catch on this site. don't waste killing fish you aren't going to eat. but, there is always debate on just
HOW much fish one person can really eat... haha!
