On Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:02:33 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:


http://www.boattest.com/Resources/vi...px?NewsID=3530

The article indicates this fisherman caught some heat for bringing it
home.
The boat captain said it was the fisherman's choice.
Seems to me the captain gets to set the rules.
????

Well, let's put it this way.

The Captain is in charge of the boat. Which means that with respect to
anything that happens on the boat, he sets the rules.

So given that as a fact, it would seem that if the Captain said to let
it go, that would be it and the fish would be released.

However, and this is the sticky part, the client also has a right to
the fish. He has paid the Captain for the use of the boat and the
Captain's expertise for the express purpose of catching a fish or
multiple fish.

The only way that a Captain can affect some kind of outcome or
decision is if the client or boat is in danger - then the client does
not have any part of the decision process.

Based on the description of the catch, it was the client's decision to
keep or let the fish go - that may be the rules in that part of the
world - that I can't say.

There's also a problem with records. Most records, including IGFA
records, are landed records - meaning that they are brought ashore and
weighed on a certified scale, the rig is certified as legal,
statements are signed and witnessed, forms submitted along with
pictures, etc. So that's a problem too.

In my experience, I always explained the rules ahead of time - WAY
ahead of time. On my boats, market fish were the keepers - any trophy
fish was to be released as (1) the larger fish are almost always
breeders and female and (2) a picture of the fish along side the boat,
a certificate by me would be issued and I have a contact who does high
quality replica mounts for a very reasonable price.

Now having said that, what I would have done is try to convince the
client not to land the fish - just settle for one hell of a story,
some pictures and maybe offer to pay for a mount if that's what the
client wanted.

Reminds me of the Oak Harbor Shark Tournament a few years ago. Two
guys hooked up with a 1,300 lb Tiger shark off Martha's. They had no
chance to win the tournament because they couldn't make it back to Oak
Harbor in time to weigh in, but they took the shark anyway for the
record. I was out there the day it happened and to tell the truth, I
felt ****ed off that they took this beautiful predator out of the
ecosystem just for the record.

That was bull**** in my book.

One final thought - we, and I mean all tournament fishermen, need to
reevaluate the landed tournaments and go towards the X series
billfish and shark tournament model - on board judges who film,
document, measure and tag all catches which are then released back
into the eco system.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)