Catch and keep vs. catch and release

Limited catch and keep is no more harmful than catch and release for Atlantic salmon.

I am writing this letter in response to Colin Murray’s Feb. 10th letter (“Flouting fishing rules is not heroic civil disobedience”) where he advocates for a catch and release policy for Atlantic salmon. First, I am not a member of any rod fishery organization.

Mr. Murray’s letter says we should follow fisheries regulations to the letter. I wonder if he would feel this way if the regulations last year would have closed the catch and release fishery along with the catch and keep, as should have been done, in my opinion. He mentions the south coast in his letter. There is no river on the south coast where you are allowed to catch and keep more than two salmon.

When my friends and I make a trip to Long Harbour River, we can usually catch and keep two fish each. That means each fisherman kills two fish each. Then we stop fishing and have a beer and a feed. The catch and release fishermen usually fish every river every time they get a chance, all season long, releasing as they go. More importantly, the outfitters are bringing in folks from all over doing the same thing. A small percentage of those catch and release fish will die. When I hook six or seven fish to be able to keep two, the catch and release fishermen will kill at least the same number of fish and not even feed one person.

When the salmon population is in peril, government should close the fishery — period. Killing salmon has the same effect on the population if the fish gets eaten by people or gulls.

I think the rest of Mr. Murray’s letter is smoke and mirrors and should be ignored. Blaming Minister Gerry Byrne? Really. Government allowed the catch and release to remain open to please the outfitters, not to save salmon.

Ken Collis Conception Bay South