keep nets should be illegal

[Dean Slater]

Im of the opinion that keep nets should be illegal, they have no use other than to keep the fish in a stressful situation longer, most anglers practise catch and release anyway, so why do we keep our fish in a tiny net for the whole weekend only to release them anyway?? Keepnets tend to take the scales off fish aswell, leading to bacterial infections. Competions are the exception, but even then, care must be taken, Take a photo and release, thats what everyone should do to keep our fish populations healthy. Just my 2 cents.....

 

[azcoza]

keep nets should only be used if you intend keeping the fish

 

[skieppie]

i agree with dean take your photo and let the fish go most people catch and release anyway

 

[Naruto]

I have no problem with keepnets if the fish are to be taken home. But if you intend on throwing the fish back, rather leave the keepnet at home. I think the biggest problem is with education. Some of our dams have too much fish. The fish need to be managed. Like in the vaaldam there are so much fish that the amount of fish killed by social and comp anglers are a drop in the bucket. But guys need to be responsible. Dont kill what you wont use. Respect the fish and the venue. And if you are going to keep any fish, try to do it within the legal limits as well for each species.

Here is a nice discussion on this topic:
http://sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=19571&forum_id=3&highlight=fish+sizes

 

[Dean Slater]

Thanks Naruto,
Very interesting read!!

 

[Jake the Snake]

Look i agree on the topic that if you are going for social a outing then yes, they should be left at home and that catch and release should be excercised. But this then has to come from each owner at the venues and just think of what MAJOR stuff up thet will be if they start banning keep nets...

At a competition level however i dont agree. How else will you be able to compete? At the competitions that i have attended i have seen that most of the guys use a very high quality net which is designed not to harm the fish. But here on the other hand it comes down to simple economics. Some people just dont have the money to go and buy a keep net of over R300 excluding the stand.

So yes on the one hand i agree and on the other and i dont.
To protect our fish population for the future generations yes i agree catch and release is the way forward but banning the nets totally....na that just doesnot make sence....just my 2c worth

 

[MadCarper]

Jake has raised a good point! I think to try and ban keepnets in SA is near impossible, lets face it. Effort should rather go into replacing the old nylon keepnets with better and more fish-friendly keepnets. And this is already happening! Which is great news.
But I agree, the price will slow down the conversion from old to new I'm afraid....

 

[Dean Slater]

Jake the Snake wrote:

Look i agree on the topic that if you are going for social a outing then yes, they should be left at home and that catch and release should be excercised. But this then has to come from each owner at the venues and just think of what MAJOR stuff up thet will be if they start banning keep nets...

At a competition level however i dont agree. How else will you be able to compete? At the competitions that i have attended i have seen that most of the guys use a very high quality net which is designed not to harm the fish. But here on the other hand it comes down to simple economics. Some people just dont have the money to go and buy a keep net of over R300 excluding the stand.

So yes on the one hand i agree and on the other and i dont.
To protect our fish population for the future generations yes i agree catch and release is the way forward but banning the nets totally....na that just doesnot make sence....just my 2c worth

Iv fished comps where no keep nets were allowed, officials were constantly walking up and down the bank, all fish were released within 30 secs of being caught and weighed, it just takes better planing on the side of officials, its def not impossible.

 

[azcoza]

I read another thread and the guys are saying that some of our dams are over populated like the Vaal Dam. So can somebody explain to me why should fish be released again if a particular dam is over populated. For example I've heard that grass carp are pests, so why should you release them?

 

[Dean Slater]

Where are the stats for this? some guys went to the vaal dam and caught 5 grassies and 3 carp and now the vaal is over populated with grass carp???? Very disturbing that you believe everything at face value. A poacher told me the kruger park is over populated with rhinos, lets go kill some......

 

[ASG]

Yes & No.

Yes for competitive angling and No for social angling.

 

 

 

[Vleipadda]

A definite no however as mentioned with better planning the officials could in each zone measure as soon as the fish is landed , and due to the lack of planning we wil keep on putting fish under stress and possible death .