I just don't believe that the discard mortality is anywhere near that high. I doubt any of those that compute these numbers have caught and released a bass ever.
There is no discard mortality from commercial fishing? What about all those bass they shovel overboard that are belly up outside the eez?
This entire process is total
and I don't believe any of it.
DZ...what exactly is the "good news"? WHat this tells me is that we should not release fish because they are just going to die anyway so we may as well keep them. Sorry, I don't buy that. IMO most fish release live to fight another day and tagging proves this.