Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyTheory
I have access to the full article through my institution. It's a very interesting and compelling read.
One thing I have to say is that they highlight:
"Another way to improve best practices may be to institutionalise
voluntary conservation ethics that transcend the basic regulatory requirements
on C&R (Fobert et al., 2009; Cooke et al., 2013). For example,
in the 2019/2020 Alberta Fishing Regulations, anglers are encouraged
to avoid targeting fish species-at-risk such as bull trout and
native westslope cutthroat trout, and to voluntarily reduce their efficiency,
i.e., “Practice this proven method to drop your release mortality
by half; catch half as many fish.” (Sullivan, 2019). Appeals to normative
behavior or ‘doing the right thing’, accompanied by informal sanctioning
systems (e.g., angling community appeals to appropriate behavior,
and anglers confronting those who don’t use best handling
practices), can be powerful social institutions."
This statement is compelling because this forum has a penalty for "onfronting those who don’t use best handling practices"...
There is a fine line between bashing someone for posting a picture of a fish on the rocks, and helpfully guiding proper fish handling. However, ostracizing someone for continually practicing poor fish handling is... maybe appropriate.
I would suggest the admins to ponder the positive impact that banning poor fish handling photos wouldn't be a horrible idea (unless fish are legally harvested). Or at least allowing people to comment (not troll or harass) on poor fish handling pictures.
What are everyone's thoughts?
|
One problem is not all photos are of C&R and second there is things that some view as good handling practices others do not. With the differences between what is viewed as except able handling differs enough that you open a holy hell can of worms here alone
In theory I get what you are saying but without true guidelines and a knowledge of every pic being C&R or a kept fish it’s is more likely to result in a ton of arguments accomplishing very little but a fight.