Fishing Conservancy Group to Host Workshop on Catch and Release

A Belmont Shore-based nonprofit conservancy group will be hosting a best practices workshop for sports fishermen Saturday in Oxnard, CA. The Sportfishing Conservancy, a nonprofit sport fishing and conservation organization, will cover all best practices fishermen should follow to protect marine resources. One particular emphasis will on catch and release.

“When given the chance, most fishermen will embrace conservation,” Sportfishing Conservancy President Tom Raftican said.

In fact, Raftican said fishermen have always been leading the charge for conservation, however, in the last decade, they have not always been leading the way. And conservation is important, he said, because it ensures there will be fish left for future generation to enjoy.

This is why this weekend’s free workshop at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary places such strong emphasis on proper catch and release.

This is something all recreational fishermen know all too well with several federal and state regulations about under or over-sized fish, over limits or out of season and recreational bycatch. By law, fishermen must throw these fishes back. In 2011, the National Marine Fishery Service reported that recreational fishermen throw about 60 percent of all catches back. That’s about 200,000 fish a year.

This is why it’s important for anglers to make sure the fish they throw back will survive and thrive, said Chris Lowe, a marine science professor at California State University, Long Beach.

What exactly happens to fishes being thrown back? Some would die, if not done correctly, Lowe said. Deep-sea fish, such as rock fish, would suffer what is known as barotrauma. That is when the fish’s internal organs and swim bladder swell up because of the change in pressure, he said.

“All those fish would die,” he said, “because they are so buoyance [from the swelling of the swim bladder] that they could not swim back down.”

Lowe has been doing research into barotrauma and survival rates for the past 10 years and he has developed some techniques that fishermen can use to maximize survivability of the fish. He has given this information to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, but has not received much support, which why he is bringing this information directly to anglers. And fishermen have been very receptive to the idea, he said. But he stressed that purpose of the workshop is for fishermen to come up with their own solutions.

“One solution might work for someone pier fishing but it won’t for someone fishing off a kayak,” he said. “We will help them see if the solution can be handled this way.”

These ideas will be compiled and posted on a website for anglers to learn from.

That’s not all that fishermen need to learn for proper catch and release, said Jenny Armstrong, who is an outreach coordinator for the Sportsfishing Conservancy. She has been fishing since she was a little girl with her dad.

Proper gear in the tackle box will also help with the fish’s survivability, she said. One such tackle is circle hooks.

“These hooks will catch the fish’s mouth and prevent swallowing,” she said. “You would be removing the hook from the corner of the mouth and not damage the fish’s internal organs.”

The conservancy has been given these workshops throughout the U.S. and they have been received very well by fishermen, Armstrong said.

The Sportsfishing Conservancy Best Practices workshop will be held from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Channel Islands Boating Center, 3880 Bluefin Cir., in Oxnard. For more information, visit the conservancy’s website at http://sportfishingconservancy.org.