Tournament fishing & fishing sustainably

[ZoomFluke]

I’d like to bring up an ever important topic, which is more relevant now than ever.
Why is it necessary to put these fish through tremendous stress during a tournament? From fighting for its life after being caught, if caught deep; maybe getting fizzed if it’s “lucky”, thrown in a live well, often taken in an out of the well throughout the tournament, weighed, weighed again, transferred to a suffocating bag, taken out of the bag to get a photo opp, then thrown back in miles away from its bed or territory…most of which don’t survive.  I love to fish and maybe I’m sounding naive but I’d love if someone could explain how tournaments work & what individual tourny anglers do to make sure their fish survive. Electronics have taken over too & it’s added even more pressure but I’d like to leave electronics for another forum because that’s it’s own issue now, unfortunately. Everything I read tells me tournaments absolutely destroy fish populations. What do y’all know? Thanks 

[Tennessee Boy]

Tournament mortality has been studied extensively.  The mortality of fish caught in tournaments is substantially higher than fish that are caught and immediately released.  However,  total mortality due to angling is very low compared to natural mortality.   The list of challenges that fish face is long.  Fishermen are way down on that list.  Here are the numbers from one study.

 

Total annual fish mortality 0.66

Tournament angling mortality 0.06

Non tournament angling mortality 0.02

 

Considering that non tournament catches are much higher than tournament catches,  the mortality of fish caught in tournaments is substantial.  Still it’s small compared to natural mortality.

 

[gim]

1 hour ago, ZoomFluke said:

Why is it necessary to put these fish through tremendous stress during a tournament?

Because they want pro anglers standing on stage holding up bass for the camera.  That's why.  It's ego and marketing on TV.

 

I do believe that some of the Elite events have transitioned to an immediate catch and release format for some of their tournaments, however.  BASS is still probably the gold standard for in-person weigh ins.  They do whatever they can to keep mortality low.

 

Regardless, I believe that even if mortality is low, we can do better.  I favor immediate catch and release formats, for all species.

[TnRiver46]

They used to have big tournaments and eat their catch. This has been going on since the late 1960s. That is the definition of sustainable especially in the fish world, so why be concerned about sustainability? BASS has done more for fish conservation than any of us ever could. They fought pollution in the early days all the way to Washington DC and pretty much introduced catch and release into bass fishing. 
 

 

[Jig Man]

It is true that it used to be eat your catch but the boats weren’t equipped to keep fish alive and there weren’t many tournaments.

 

Today there are many times more tournaments than there used to be and lots of them are 100 to 200 boat tournaments.  I don’t see them becoming fewer.  I live close to Table Rock Lake.  The average size of the bass overall is getting smaller.

[MickD]

Call me a skeptic, but I don't believe the mortality numbers that come from tournament advocates or operators.  Common  sense tells me that a fish immediately released has a better chance of survival than one put through the tourney routine, transported many miles in many cases from where they were caught.

 

We had a nut here in MI who was advocating tournaments that would allow bass to be taken from their beds, taken miles away to weigh-ins, etc.  That is a guarantee of bed failure, but this tourney advocate was trying to make it happen.  But he argued that it would not harm the population.  Naturalists with doctorate degrees in fishery management came to the rescue with their data that disproved the position of the spawning bed tourney advocate.

 

If immediate release is worse than transporting/remote weigh-in/etc, then why are some tournaments going to immediate in-the-boat weigh and release?  Are they advocating the "higher mortality" of immediate release?  I think we have to be skeptical of data from those with a financial interest in tournaments.  And I think the bass populations would be better off without our current tournament activity.

[Craig P]

I agree about questioning mortalities and the sources of the reports.  If you do a google search, you'll find varying numbers.  Then do a search on other species, their estimated C&R mortality are not consistent either.  Like everything else in the world, the numbers slant to fit the agenda of the reporting body.

 

I am of the opinion that tournament fishing should not be allowed until after the spawn unless it's catch, weigh and immediate release.  That just seems like common sense to me.

 

Covid brought in a whole new population of anglers, FFS is shortening the learning curve.  More anglers, more catching, more mortality.  That is common sense.

 

I believe every tournament body out there "believes" they are being as protective of the species as they can be.....but are they really?  I just cannot support removing a fish, especially if on bed.  I know the money behind it, the money can remain but practices have to be modernized.

[gim]

Walleye anglers are the largest group of meat hunters that exist here. If you can transition them to a catch and release format for their tournaments, you can certainly persuade the bass crowd to do it too.

 

Personally, at certain times of the year I am generally ok with a standard weigh in format. Bass are relatively hardy fish. When they are spawning on beds and when the water is very warm in summer, there is absolutely no reason to haul them to a weigh in. This is when the catch and release format should be utilized.