environment and conservation

Posts and links to other content on environment and conservation issues that impact on fish and fishing

24
Jul
2014

Five New Fishing Quotations and Sayings: 24 July 2014

Here we go again, five new pithy and fishy quotations and saying, bringing the total up to 1210.

“Celebrity chefs are the leaders in the field of food, and we are the led. Why should the leaders of chemical businesses be held responsible for polluting the marine environment with a few grams of effluent, which is sub-lethal to marine species, while celebrity chefs are turning out endangered fish at several dozen tables a night without enduring a syllable of criticism?”

– Charles Clover

“Fish,” he said softly, aloud, “I’ll stay with you until I am dead.”

– Ernest Hemingway

“It takes a man who is a thinker. To catch the big one, hook, line and sinker!”

– NA

“Floods of humanity, lakes of peace, rivers of gold, the tides of war; all we are and do is linked to the water of life.”

– David Mead

“As with a faint star in the night’s sky, one can better understand fishing’s allure by looking around it, off to the side, not right at it”

– Holly Morris

See all 1210 Fishing quotations and sayings…

Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation, fishing quotes
14
May
2013

The ‘UK Grip’ – A Trout Killer Too!

badgripuk

Some people who read my recent article on ‘grip and kill’ when taking photos of trout have pointed out the style of grip shown above – I call it the ‘UK grip’ and it can be lethal.

Those who follow UK trout fishing magazines and websites may have noticed the prevalence of photos with the trout being held as seen in the photo above. I did a quick flick through a pile of recent top selling UK magazines and websites and as rough estimate well over 50% of fish are held by the UK grip.  I believe trout are held this way to show off the fact that the fish is a ‘full-finned’ or wild fish, not a stocked fish.

Many (most?) stocked fish have their tails and fines damaged by other fish and the concrete walls of the stock pens. So to show off the fact the fish is ‘full-finned and tailed’ you need a grip that does just that. That grip which I have called the ‘UK grip’ is great for showing fins and tails, but is it good for the trout? No.

The UK grip means that the tail of the fish is not firmly held by fingers encircling the base of the tail – to do so would ‘hide’ the tail. So the holder must squeeze the fish as shown above. If the fish thrashes about the grip around the heart area has to increase. All bad news for the heart and other organs.

This practice needs to stop, and fishing media can stamp it out almost immediately. Magazines and websites need to stop showing fish held in this way.

Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation, fishing media, Fishing Videos, trout information, weird fishy stuff
07
May
2013

Trout Dying To Get a Good Photo

We all should know the rules for releasing a trout with the best chance of survival, but there is one rule that is almost never included in articles about successful releasing.

So, you have landed the fish as quickly as possible to limit capture stress and you are about to pick up the fish and a get a few ‘grip and grin’ shots before release.

But, grip and grin, can all too often turn into grip and kill, and it is all down to where you grip, and how you grip, the trout that can determine its survival.

Link corrected – Read the full story and see the grip and kill photos.

The worst example of ‘grip and kill’ in these shots – almost certain lethal damage to heart, liver and gills. Photo of worst grip and kill grip
Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation, fly fishing, fly fishing how-to, trout information
24
Mar
2013

Manta Rays Last Dance?

Spectacular imagery, featuring giant Pacific mantas and professional mermaid-model Hannah Fraser.

During her many breath-hold dives, which often lasted a minute or more, Fraser had one ankle anchored to the sea floor with 50 pounds of weights, which enabled her to sway with the current, 30 feet beneath the surface.

Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation
30
Oct
2012

New Tagging Research Reveals Remarkable Mako Shark Journey

A satellite reporting tagging device know as a SPOT tag, attached to a shortfin mako shark dubbed “Carol” in New Zealand five months ago, is providing scientists with remarkable and previously unknown details of the timing and long-distance migratory movements of this species.

makotag

See more on Sportfishing magazine.

Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation, New Zealand Fishing, salt water fishing
06
Apr
2010

Rock Snot Cure-All – Not!

There is a growing trend in the USA for  various states to consider banning felt sole wading boots. A couple have already taken the plunge and of course anglers are exhibiting all the angst that hit new New Zealand fly-fishers when the ‘no felt soles’ regulation came into being.

Some US sites are promoting ‘Uncle Jacks Didymo Killer’ because various test have shown it to be a an excellent rock snot killer, on contact with didymo.

In fact some sites are suggesting Uncle Jacks is so good it will negate the need to ban felt soles. Unfortunately this is simply not the case. Uncle Jacks is a good and effective surface spray, and works well on any didymo that it makes contact with. But it is the contact bit that hides the problem.

Tests conducted here in New Zealand and elsewhere have shown conclusively that wading on infested rocks with felt soles forces the didymo ‘spores’ deep inside the felt, so deep, that no surface spray gets anywhere near it. The spores can live in damp felt for weeks. And it only needs a tiny number of the minute ‘spores’ to infest a river.

There are two ways to ensure didymo is killed in felt soles:

  • Dry them for at least 72 hours in a dry, warm environment.
  • Freeze the boots for at least 12 hours.

As to the rest of the wading gear, waders, boots, laces, boot tongues, wading staff, landing net, etc., anything that makes contact with the river – go mad with Uncle Jack’s or any other sprays that do the business, there are a number of them. They will deal to didymo – but in felt soles? Afraid not!

Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation, fly fishing how-to
11
Mar
2009

Securely handling trout without causing stress or damage

One of New Zealand’s best known guides, Tony Entwhistle, writing in the New Zealand Fish & Game Magazine, has one of the best descriptions I have read on the proper handling of a trout.

“Securely handling a trout without causing stress or damage is a matter of a gentle touch, not a tight grip.

To pacify a landed trout, simply place a hand vertically in front of its nose to prevent it  from swimming  forward and fold the palm to cover both eyes. This acts as a mask and immediately calms it down. Trout relax quickly when their eyes are covered.

Next grasp the fish’s tail with the other hand, without excessive force. Some anglers use a piece of stocking for grip, but with good technique this isn’t necessary. Securing a trout needs only gentle pressure between the thumb and forefinger, applied directly over the base of the tail, applied where it joins the body (hypural joint).

Apply pressure top and bottom through the first joints of the forefinger and thumb, rather than along the sides. The mistake is grasping the tail too far forward and using too much hand in doing so. Squeezing hard does not help as the fish slips more easily.

Now test the grip by lifting the fish slightly by the tail, keeping the other hand over the eyes for the moment. If the grip is secure the trout will not slip, but if it does resist grabbing at it with both hands. By quickly slipping a hand in front of the nose, and covering the eyes again, a lot more fish will be saved from premature release.

With a positive grip on the tail it is now possible to begin lifting the trout safely for a photograph or release.

Avoid squeezing the fish around the soft belly area behind the pectoral fins because this causes discomfort and can potentially cause serious damage to internal organs. Instead slide the free hand under the pectoral fins, orientating the hand so that the trout’s head rests along the index finger, with the pectoral fins spread out between thumb and little finger.

The trout will be nicely balanced and the soft tissue in the belly area will no be supporting any weight. Lifting the trout this way, and returning it to the water between photographs minimizes any distress which could reignite its struggles. Turn the fish belly up when removing the hook.

Handle trout gently and with respect and they won’t panic or stress, ensuring their revival for release without damage and a minimum of fuss.”

© Reproduced by permission – ‘New Zealand Fish and Game Magazine’

Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation, fly fishing how-to, trout information
03
Jan
2007

Great News for Great White Sharks

The New Zealand Government has announced a complete ban on catching or selling of parts of Great Whites. This is great news for a fish that is coming under increasing pressure throughout its wide range.

Now if we can only organize some kind of world boycott of fishing fleets (mainly Asian) that are involved with the truly barbaric shark finning industry. Millions of sharks are being killed every year, in horrific fashion. The sharks are hauled on board, their fins cut off, and then dumped still alive back in the water.

Too sad, especially when you know that most Asians don’t like shark’s fin ssoup. It is primarily eaten at banquets for special occasions. Originally serving shark’s fin soup endowed great prestige on the host because shark’s fin was hard to obtain.

But now, supplies are such that hopefully the diminishing prestige gained because of ready supplies will kill the whole damned industry off.

Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation
28
Jul
2005

Water, Water, Everywhere…

I am in the throes of compiling over 500 (now 1000 08-2010) quotations and aphorisms on fishing, fishermen, rivers, sea, boats and the whole damn thing, to go on my website. One particular quote has been rattling around the dark recesses of my mind and it won’t seem to go away – “If you want to know the priorities of a nation and the effectiveness of their government, test their water quality.” – Jim Slinsky.

It is just so simple a judgement. Water is absolutely fundamental to human life that anything that reduces or contaminates this precious resource, contaminates our very existence. Yet all of us who fish in rivers, streams, lakes, or ponds are confronted on each trip with the clear, irrefutable evidence of of the harm we are doing to our water supplies.

Rubbish in the water, on the banks, on the foreshore. Run-off from farms containing fertiliser and animal excrement that feeds explosive growth in weed, choking streams, rivers and lakes, growth that alters natures balance. Industrial waste literally poisoning the water supply. The cutting down of native trees to make way for pine forests, poisoning the water with tannin and chemical fertilisers. Allowing the use of weed killing chemicals in catchment areas adding more poison to the system. Allowing the “development” of lake foreshores – too often leading to waste products leaching into the water – “development” indeed, bah and humbug!

Many Governments, local and national, claim that it is economically unfeasible to police contamination of waterways, except in the instances of gross pollution. One could hope that these same Governments could explain the economic gains that might be made by spending money on making water fit to drink.

Unfortunately the problem is growing exponentially. Water quality around the world is declining at an ever increasing rate – the cost of processing that water to make it drinkable is also increasing at an ever upward spiralling rate. How long will it be for Governments abrogate their accountabilities altogether and leave it up to households to treat their own drinking water, or buy it in bottled form? This unpalatable fact is now very wide-spread around the world.

So why has this quote struck such a chord in me? I guess it is because the simplicity of the notion reveals, to me at least, how far the people who govern us have retreated from the notions of governing in the best interests of the people, for the good of the people – and how far they have retreated from any concern over the basics that determine our well-being at the most fundamental level, the water we drink and the air we breath.

But then of course the famous ‘they’, the Government, is us. That sad fact whacks me around the ears just thinking about it!

Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation