Quote:
Originally Posted by Got Stripers
It’s hard to believe that percentage based on my own experience, as I believe my mortality rated isn’t even 1%, but again how can you even quantify it. Shame on those recreational fishermen that are killing 9% of the fish they release.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device
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On any given day if your release mortality is 1%, but the guy next to you doesn't handle his fish properly and his release mortality comes in at 17% (not unheard of by any means), then the total release mortality of the fish caught between the two of you comes out at 9%. It really isn't that difficult to imagine the AVERAGE release mortality of the entire fishery as a whole is 9% according to the figures currently used by the ASMFC based on release mortality studies.
To be honest, I'd be surprised if it was really that low when you average out the entire angling population. As JLH noted, and as so many of us forget, we (those who respect the fish and handle them properly) are by far in the minority. I see it every day on the internet, through my job and in person that people in general simply do not handle fish properly. Even those who profess to be the voice of the conservation movement are not perfect, and I've witnessed a great many of them get caught up in the heat of a good bite or photo opportunity and inflict excessive harm on the fish.