Releasing fish with Baratrauma

[Broad Bill]

I remember a winter party boat cod trip 25 or more years ago. Leif, for those of you on the site for a while, was on board and the first time I'd met him. Great guy. First stop I remember him saying we're way too deep for cod. He was right, no cod but all the 3-4 lb. sea bass you wanted. Problem was, season for sea bass was closed. Drop and reel, as soon as your rig hit the bottom it was double triple header sea bass with almost everyone tossed back belly up.

Captain stayed there for more than an hour so probably 500 or more beautiful sea bass floated back to the gulls. You had three choices, keep them and risk being fined back at the dock, toss them overboard for the gulls or stop fishing. I chose to stop fishing as not one cod, the target species, was caught and I couldn't continue killing absolutely beautiful sea bass. A complete waste. No venting equipment on board and certainly not the devices Dan posted. In the absence of a mandate, a sensible mandate in this case, people won't buy a $25 venting tool to protect fisheries because they're lazy or not informed. There should absolutely be a requirement on party and charter boats who do this for a living. But as always, this is someone else's problem, not theirs.

Gerry, I fail to understand the logic in your comment. I understand and agree no one likes mandates but when those mandates help preserve stocks what you're saying is you'd rather risk anglers killing hundreds of fish out of season or below the size limit as opposed to making a one time purchase for a $25 venting tool on a trip you'll spend $300 dollars alone for in gas to get to the grounds. Those same people will be the first to complain when possession limits are reduced and seasons closed. If you're political views are against regulatory mandates, don't target the species.