Sailfish Release or Not

[Sailfish69]

Here is a question for those serious anglers along the south african coast. This has been bugging me for a while. Should a sailfish be released or not? According to a recent study done internationally, it has been said that sailfish are rather proliffic along the south african coastline.

[align=justify]Growth: Some studies have been done to examine the growth rate of the fish with some pretty amazing findings. After a female sailfish lays her eggs they hatch 36 hours later! They are also a fast growing species, where a hatchling can grow up to six feet long in one year's time. How big do they get? The average length is 6 to 8 feet, but the world's record holder caught in 1994 weighed 141 pounds and was over ten feet long.[/align]
[align=justify]Diet: Flying fish and squid, preferring tunas, mackerels, jacks and other fish that swim near the ocean’s surface. Divers have reported seeing several sailfish work together to corral their prey, using their high fins to create a wall that keeps the smaller fish from escaping. They've also been observed using their long, sharp bills to stun and skewer their prey. Scientists have also photographed them hunting in groups, flashing brilliant colors on their bodies when excited by their predatory behavior during feeding. [/align]
This has caused a reduction in the number of game fish as too many sailies are eating all the baitfish. They are generally faster and normally hunt in packs, consuming large amounts of baitfish, leaving the other game fish like couta, kingies tuna etc to hunt further away from the shorelines for food.

So guys and girls, should we release or keep?

 

 

 

 

[aquadementia]

HAHAHAHAHAHA thats the dumbest question I've ever heard in my whole entire life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OF COURSE we should cull sailies, they're such pests I mean I'd rather be catching bonnies all day, who wants to catch a lame sailfish anyway??

 

[robyosh]

depends what they taste like, or ask def if he will slide them

 

[Sailfish69]

Hmmmm, i dunno about the lame part, as i have caught a 25kg one off my Hunterski and yep it gave quiet a nice fight, better than the bonito's i have caught. By the way i did keep mine and we ate it, very nice when smoked.

Just that some anglers check yout funny when you beach with a huge sailly. I seem to agree as well tht they should be hooked and kept?

 

[aquadementia]

Sailfish69 wrote:

Hmmmm, i dunno about the lame part, as i have caught a 25kg one off my Hunterski and yep it gave quiet a nice fight, better than the bonito's i have caught. By the way i did keep mine and we ate it, very nice when smoked.

Just that some anglers check yout funny when you beach with a huge sailly. I seem to agree as well tht they should be hooked and kept?

did you seriously not catch the sarcasm in my post?

the next time you get a hook stuck in your finger I think you should chop your finger off and smoke it

 

[deezynking]

:op::op::op::op::op::op:

 

[Sailfish69]

::craz::craz::craz::craz

 

Heeee heeee got it dude

 

[WalkersKiller]

Release them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aquadementia]

Sailfish69 wrote:

::craz::craz::craz::craz

 

Heeee heeee got it dude

ok bud

 

[AndriesH]

Stop trawling the BAIT fish, then there is enough for all the species, close to shore.

 

[Serra Moz]

As stated...HAHAHAHAHAHA Dumbest question I have ever heard in my whole entire life......... Perhaps not the right way to approach the topic?

Contrary to Aquademtia's statement...

Yes, I am in for releasing the Sailfish, however it depends on the state of the fish, trying to revive it for an hour...seeing it swims away slowly only to get mauled by black tips and hammerheads....ugly sight - wasted effort.

Skipper's call, keep the fish - 80% change of dying or getting chomped........ In Moz as described in above scenario - hand it out to the nearby village.......feed a few families.

Just my opinion.... anyway 99% of sportfishing outfits release bill fish in Moz.

 

[Richard M]

Ate the first one I ever caught. It was rather delicious if I must say!

Since then catch and relase them if they are in good shape (which with decent tackle is 100% of the time). Sailies landed on ultra light tackle that take a long time to boat are totally knackered when they are realeased, so you need to be carefull. Use a reasonable 10-15kg outfit and they have a good chance of 100% recovery.

 

[Serra Moz]

Yes, Richard you are correct.........valid point

 

I am still searching for info on the restricted area posting, there was a post sometime ago... perhaps look under conservation... will mail you if I find it...

 

[Marthin]

I can be of very little imput here but i have thought of something....

Do not confuse a healthy population of one species as over population.

I think Andriesh hit the nail on the head. All the sailies together cannot take out baitfish at the rate that anglers use them.

People have been catching and releasing sailies mostly, while keeping a lot of the other fish...Below are just some small numbers grabbed out of the air to show relationships.

so now you have 50 sailies vs 10 of each other species... You don't make the situation better by now bringing the sailfish numbers down to 10 as well!!!

You should keep on releasing the sailfish, and more regularly the other sport fish, and that will bring the numbers up to 60 vs 40 for example.

It's too often i see people catching one species all the time, and then blaming them being there for the absence of the other species. you are only catching the one species because that's all that's left. And it's usually the species that is regularly released.

Why do R&S guys catch so many sea barbel?? Coz it's almost all that's left.... Why? because we've kept their levels where they SHOULD BE (not overpopulated), by releasing them.

 

[Sailfish69]

I agree most definitely with catch and release myself, just that there are so many conflicting reports of what to do. For example the ichtyologists claim that they are fast growing fish, eggs hatch after 36 hours etc. and that they do consume a large number of game species.

The one i kept was unfortunately a bit tired, and would not have survived.

My policy is C & R, keep your daily limit if you are going to eat it that day or night otherwise release for another day, we need more people to practice C & R, this will keep us all happy when we are out there on our ski's and catching fish.

 

[kirk]

release all bill fish(marlin , broadbill, sailfish etc)- the chinese & Japanese  are doing a great job of ridding our oceans on their own - they opperate as a law unto themselves whales included.

If u must keep a bill fish its because it was gill raked or u could determine it wont survive. Ive caught plenty and only had to keep one(sailfish) i did not even eat it  gave it to the local community in Kenya where I grew up so as not to waste it. "On the other hand darrel"- have tasted smoked saily its very nice at a hotel, but my concience prevents me from kulling them. I wont buy a kilo of the stuff regardless of how good it might taste.

 

 

 

[Klipdrift]

Sailfish69 I like your view on releasing fish you aren't going to eat that day. Let it live another day rather than sit in your freezer and probably never be eaten later.

Nice twist. I only mention this because I'm guilty of wasting fish in the past by freezing them when I could just as easily have released them or given them to someone who would have eaten them when still fresh.

I think if I want fish for another day I'm going to try catch it another day. Thanks for the personal eye opener.

 

[Fin-S]

Sailfish are generally shallow water fish and hence are not particularly liable to overfishing from trawlers and longliners. They find it difficult to set gear in 50m.
They are however susceptible to local exploitation. In season, the local subsistance fisherman catch 20-100 plus per DAY between Zanzibar and the mainland, this is what damages the stocks. Yet the only reason they target sails is because the reef fish are fished out - they are not first choice. Bottom line - If you catch enough sails you will find the odd one deeply hooked and bleeding. By all means, keep it. All of the others should be tagged and released.

 

[Sailfish69]

Hey guys it seems everyone out there has a valid point, the solution, protect our fish stocks as i'm sure our kids and grand kids would like to catch the same species that we are catching today. Thanks for the forum replies and remember Tight Lines.:thankie