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Originally Posted by Vogt
Exactly what I mean.
Then the next thing you know people are intentionally gut hooking fish so they can keep them. Where does the line get drawn? :
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I can answer that. Intentionally gut hooking a fish is wrong.
Zero tolerance laws are stupid and don't work. Life is grey. You're not supposed to kill short bass. If you accidentally kill it, the damage is done. What happens after it's dead is irrelevant. I'm not a fish doctor so I can't tell how much blood loss or tissue damage will kill a fish, so if it's bleeding but not dead, I'll throw it back.
I'm talking about logic and morality, not the law. The law doesn't make sense. The same fish may or may not be kept at a certain size depending in which state's waters it's swimming.
This is the morality versus legality argument. The two have nothing to do with each other and only intersect occasionally by chance. In 1850 Virginia, slavery was legal. That doesn't make it moral.
Plus in this case the stakes are so small, doing what's right is relatively risk free. It's not like they actually enforce saltwater fishing regulations.