If you keep a non-native species, do you still C&R?

[maodiver]

Something that is rolling around in my dome.

If you catch something not native to the area you are fishing, do you keep/kill it?

Corollary questions:

Does it matter what the fish you catch is?
Does it matter if it is considered an "invasive" species?
Does it matter if you personally consider the fish to be non-native?
Does it matter if the State planted the fish in a non-native area?

What brings this to mind are the pics out there of Peacock Bass in Fla., Brown trout in Montana, LMB in Lake Tahoe, Steelhead in Great Lakes, etc, etc, etc.

[maodiver]

For me:

I have less problem killing and eating Brown Trout than native trout. I feel the same about hatchery trout of any kind. I also would probably kill a snakehead out of hand, as with a pike in a California lake. If I caught a peacock bass, I would probably kill it, as it is WAY out if it's habitat in Florida. Same goes for LMB in Tahoe, Steelies and Pacific Salmon in the Great Lakes, etc.

I guess what I am getting to is that I think I would kill (if legal) any fish which would have an impact on a native in the same area, as with Trout vs. Yellow Legged Frog in CA, Stripers in the CA Delta, etc.

[kglissmeyer]

Interesting question. Right now on the South Fork of the Snake River the Idaho Fish & Game has lifted all limits on rainbow trout and are encouraging anglers to harvest any and all rainbow trout they catch. They are even offering cash rewards for some selective-tagged fish. The competition between the rainbows and the native cutthroat is supposedly forcing the cutts out of their native range, thus the encouragement to kill the non-native bows. Browns are also not native to any watershed in the state. As for me, it would be a sad thing to harvest all of the brown trout out of my favorite spring creek just because they are non-native and thus considered 'invasive', since there seems to be approx. 90% browns, 9% cutts and 1%or less of bows. I think C&R makes sense in most cases and for most species. Every now and then I harvest a rainbow from the South Fork, but for the most part I continue to enjoy the sport the so-called 'invasive' species adds to the diversity. Last year I caught a South Fork Slam by hooking and landing a native cutthroat, a rainbow, a brown, a cutt-bow hybrid and a whitefish all in the same outing. I call that good sport and a very successful day (if I were to consider only native species as a slam then I could have stopped at the cutthroat and the whitefish...). Most, if not all of the rainbow and brown trout in the South Fork are native bred and born, not planted.

Current regulations on the Henry's Fork - both upper and lower -, in those areas that allow catch-and-keep, do mention that no cutthroat trout may be kept, which would lead one to believe that they are striving to re-establish the cutthroat population in that river. The upper river on the most famous stretches of the Box Canyon and the Railroad Ranch, are most famous for the tremendous rainbow trout fishing - no other species really is established in those upper reaches of the river - yet the rainbows are not native, and current regs nevertheless require zero harvest and flyfishing only on those stretches of river.

We all have to decide on our own what we consider 'invasives' and whether or not they add to or detract from the sport. I don't have a good answer, just what I've experienced and practiced. I'm sure there are some real problems in some waters with species that compete with the natives, but when it comes to trout I consider them all sport fish and appreciate the diversity. Real invasives to me are those such as snails, mussels, and rock snot; I think they pose a far bigger threat to our sport than do competing species of fish. I also don't advocate planting your favorite waters (bucket biology) with some species you think you would prefer live there. A few years ago someone or someones did this in Yellowstone Lake with Lake Trout and now they are eating the native cutthroat out of house and home - current regs require mandatory killing of any Lake Trout caught.

For me, C&R extends to all of the fish I catch, with very, very few exceptions.

Kelly.

[Steven McGarthwaite]

In Minnesota, there are Lake Trout, German Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, and Brook Trout.

The Lake Trout were planted by the MN DNR in deep water lakes. The German Brown are mostly in the 7 County area of SE Minnesota and they are healthy and are able to reproduce with no help from the DNR. Rainbows are also in the 7 county area of SE, and they have major trouble reproducing on their own, so most of the Rainbows are hatchery raised. The Brook Trout in the SE corner of Minnesota, were supplemented with other subspecies of Brook Trout from the New England area of the United States.

A amazing bit of knowledge was learned a couple years ago..... All of the Brook Trout in Minnesota, are from the original Brook Trout found in Minnesota before the stocking of Brook Trout from the New England region....and they are doing just fine with no hatchery help from the DNR....

Asian Carp are not to be released if caught. Asian Carp have gotten up as far as Red Wing MN....
Funds to reduce or eliminate these foreign fish into our ecosystem is going to be more difficult is the funding is reduce by the House of Respresentives......They are talking about a 53% reduction of funding for cleaning up the environmental mess in the "Great Lakes" which already have Asian Snakeheads....

I am thinking that no amount of money spent will change eliminate new species from elsewhere in the world, if there are none of the predators to help keep these invasive species in check. The damage had been done, and it cannot be undone! ~Parnelli

[Panman]

I believe in both catch & eat as well as catch and release. I figure that the Fish & Game pros have the expertise to establish limits on the various species of fish that inhabit my part of the world. Therefore if I catch a fish that I want to eat I keep it, if I don't want to eat it back in it goes even if it is a trash fish. Other than obeying the regulations the only rule I set for myself is to let the big ones go and keep the little ones to eat.
Tim

[Lotech]

If the water I'm fishing is Catch & Release, it doesn't matter what I catch, it gets released. If the water I'm fishing is legal for C&F, and I want one, I'll catch and fry. It depends on where, how, & why I'm fishing. If I don't want one in a catch & fry location, I'll release it. Again, it depends on where, how & why I'm fishing.

[Cold]

Just about the only fish I wouldn't put back would be invasives (snakehead) and a few Lake Erie steel each year.

Oh...and if I catch a mess of huge crappie or perch, but that's another matter altogether.

[tailingloop]

For freshwater, everything that I catch is non-native and most of the waters in Southern California are man made reservoirs with introduced species.

Most of the freshwater species targeted by recreational anglers through out California are introduced species. This includes brown trout, brook trout, lake trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white bass, spotted bass, striped bass, wipers (white/striped bass hybrids), carp, tilapia, bluegill, redear sunfish, green sunfish, channel catfish, black crappie, and white crappie. Even the native rainbow trout is non-native in many areas of the state where they now exist, including the eastern Sierra whey they, along with other introduced trout species have displaced native lahontan cutthroat trout. Without the imports, we wouldn't have much if any fishing.

I mostly C&R keeping the occasional fish for the grill, and always within the regulations for the waters I am fishing. And if the regulations state that all fish of a species should be killed, as is the case for carp on one local lake, I comply with that too.

[Mato Kuwapi]

In places like Yellowstone...if you catch a Lake Trout (Concidered invasive there) YOU MUST KILL IT. You can take it or throw it back only if the air bladder is punctured before you release it. On the Great Lakes watershed, if you get round gobies, rudd, sea lamprey etc... you should kill them. It's illegal to transport them alive. They list common carp as invasive along with white perch. I haven't killed those species, while just fishing. I have taken part in programs to reduce carp from some waters. White perch really started showing up around my place in the six or seven years. I didn't know they were considered invasive until recently. If culling a species helps the watershed return to a more healthy state...then I would do it. Catch and Release means acting responsibly ...it does not mean throw everything back regardless or never taking a fish for the table. Just don't take 5 if one will do. If you can't eat it the day you catch it....think about putting it back. I don't like trout that much to eat. I will take one only if I have to...bleeding profusely, over played or the water I'm fishing requires it) Sometimes I eat one...but mostly I give them to the Veterans at the local Legion. There's always takers there.

That doesn't mean I get upset if someone catches a nice fish and takes it home for the table. I get upset when I see people taking their limit home on a regular basis. (you saw them yesterday or you know they have some in the freezer) OR you know they already caught their limit but return the same day to fish for more after ditching the earlier catch. (illegal and just plain morally wrong)

You shouldn't have to feel guilty if you want to keep a fish now and then. Nor should you feel the need to justify it in your own mind by turning trout (or other species) into a non native invasive...just to make you feel better. Just practice sound conservation and obey the laws.

Now with all that said... I hate seeing photos of dead fish.

[DG]

I throw em all back, since I don't eat fish. If I caught a nonnative trout and kept it and didn't eat it (or give it to someone to eat), I would be breaking the law. Since almost all trout around here are nonnatives, many of my days would be very short if I kept my limit of exotics and went home. In our native trout waters, I would dearly love to toss the brookies over my shoulder into the bushes, but until the state tells me to do so, even those go back. And most of the "trash" fish I catch are natives, unlike the bows and browns, so I enjoy putting them back.