The Stewardship of Fishing

How does changing your toilet to low-flow affect our fisheries? Even harder to put together is how using natural pest controls or changing your light bulbs to compact fluorescents (CFL) can have a positive impact on our local waterways where we fisherman like to spend our spare time. It is all connected, and Recycled Fish is trying to take a holistic approach and promote a life of stewardship amongst the fishing community.
As the name implies they started as an organization to promote the practice of catch-and-release fishing which means letting the fish you catch go free to live, perpetuate their species and fight another day. As Recycled Fish studied the trends, they came to realize that 80 percent of anglers already practice releasing their catch 80 percent of the time, so founder Teeg Stouffer decided to take it a step further. He realized catch-and-release is only a small part of the puzzle to help preserve our fisheries. What we do when we are not fishing is just as important.
“If we want more and bigger fish in our waters, now and for our kids,” Teeg says, “the choices we make every day matter because our lifestyle runs downstream.”
So Recycled Fish asks anglers to take a pledge of stewardship, to help through things we do everyday do help preserve fishing not only for us, but for generations to come. Through pro-activity, all of us can help preserve the waters we fish. The thought process that I alone can’t make a difference is old school, just like the guy who wonders why he isn’t taking home huge stringers of fish like the old days. If we want to have fish to catch for years to come we have to start taking care of the waters we have now.
I have been a member for over a year now and thought I was being pretty good about caring for my fishing holes. I have been practicing catch-and-release for close to 20 years. My wife and I had switched over to CFL’s a few years ago, and have replaced almost every appliance to energy star as finances allowed. I did it more to save money on my energy bills than to save the fish, but I see it now as an added bonus.
Then I started thinking of that down stream flow and what impact the things I do in my own backyard has on the waters that all fish need to survive. I live just a block from Sonoma Creek, and I apologize to the steelhead trout and other fish that live in the creek for using products I used to use that were less than friendly to them. We now use all natural products around our home and garden. My wife even makes her own cleaning solution out of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. We recycle everything they allow us to recycle and we make a conscious effort to promote healthy choices that will lessen our impact on the environment. Teeg told me, “If you check out our Stewardship Tips on the recycledfish.org, you will see how many of the things we do every day impacts our fisheries.”
On the water there are choices we can make as anglers to help improve the places we fish. Pick up trash, not just yours, but the garbage others leave behind as well. I have to say it always bothered me seeing a Styrofoam container on the shore some thoughtless person left behind. Instead of shaking my head, condemning the person who did it and moving on, I actually pick it up and throw it away. It makes me feel better knowing I am leaving a place better than I found it.
The other thing us fisherpersons should be doing is making choices in tackle to help reduce the toxins we may leave behind when you lose a fish or break off on a log. There are weights made of non-lead materials, soft “plastics” made of biodegradable materials. Teeg let me know that Recycled Fish is working with the tackle industry to get them to do their share, “A lot of the tackle manufacturers are on board and working on new baits and tackle that will not only catch fish, but not hurt them if your line breaks off .”
There are literally hundreds of other ideas at recycledfish.org. Check them out, and while you’re there, take the pledge. Start caring for our fisheries so we and our children’s children will have a place to escape to and catch a fish or two.
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