I would like to believe that Doug Sheppard’s letter to the editor on Aug. 11, entitled “Hook-and-release salmon angling is not conservation,” was written out of a genuine concern for the health of our salmon stocks and not as invective directed at catch and release and the anglers who practise it. However, the spiteful tone of the letter and the “dog in the manger” attitude of the author causes me to believe otherwise.
I question Sheppard’s assertion that “the large majority of Newfoundlanders do not embrace hook-and-release fishing as a conservation method for Atlantic salmon” and see it as a “disrespectful foreign practice.” Even if he were correct, this does not mean catch and release is not a valid conservation method, nor does it mean the reasons why those anglers who do not embrace the practice are based on altruistic motives.
The fact is, I believe all anglers practise catch and release at some point because the salmon they have landed is too big or not quite big enough. And, for me at least, there is as much pleasure — or more — in successfully releasing a fish and seeing it swim away as there is in catching it.
Salmon angling for both the retention and release angler is recreational. Sheppard should acknowledge that retaining a salmon is just as much about placating the ego of the retention angler as it is about eating an enjoyable food.
Yet Sheppard would like us to believe that catch-and-release anglers are about placating their egos by displaying “dominance over a mere fish,” while retention anglers are engaged in an “enjoyable pursuit of enjoyable food.” In other words, for retention anglers it’s about putting food (they caught) on the table. Reminds me of the line from “Cast Away” when Tom Hank’s character, Chuck Noland, finally starts a fire: “Look what I have created. I have made fire” — except the retention angler might say, “Look what I have caught. I have caught salmon.”
Would we be having this conversation about catching caplin? Doubtful. Angling for salmon is a challenge — for all anglers. Consider the investment in equipment, gear and travel to pursue that enjoyable food. Consider the hours spent angling for salmon using nothing more than a rod and reel and a single barbless hook at the end of a fly line.
If it’s simply about enjoying a meal of salmon, there are cheaper, more efficient and less time-consuming ways to do so. None of them, however, would be as enjoyable. And that’s the key to remember here. Salmon angling for both the retention and release angler is recreational. Sheppard should acknowledge that retaining a salmon is just as much about placating the ego of the retention angler as it is about eating an enjoyable food.
So, it’s time to check the rhetoric at the door, and have a rational conversation about salmon conservation and salmon management. Placing restrictions on retention is not an attack on those who would keep a fish. It’s about preserving a resource for this generation and the next. Catch-and-release anglers are not the enemy. Nor do I believe there is some nefarious conspiracy to privatize rivers for the rich few.
However, if we wish to prevent the resource from being cleaned out and wish to maintain open access to any person who, like Sheppard, wishes to engage in the enjoyable pursuit of salmon angling, then there will have to be restrictions and regulations based on sound scientific data to ensure this.
James Dinn, president
Salmonid Association of Eastern Newfoundland
