"Chas Wade" wrote in message
news:k2ZRb.134850$5V2.682516@attbi_s53...
"Cornmuse" wrote:

... Just the right excerpts snipped ...

Yes, that's the essence of his position. My complaint is that he
doesn't mention any of the statistics we're used to about mortality of
fish released. My favorite one of those is the fact that the cutthroat
trout in the Yellowstone river in the park are caught an average of 9
times per year. Without thinking that thrugh too carefully, a
mortality rate of 10% or higher would remove all the fish each year,
and we know that's not happening.

Another item he doesn't mention is that if we reduced the fishing
enough to keep the population healthy but had a strict catch and kill
regulation, many fewer people would fish, and the advocacy grouop
defending the fish and their ecosystem would be tremendously reduced.

I suspect that different species have different handling mortality.
He's consentrated on shad, and I only know what he wrote about those
fish. He only comments that mishandling is hard on the fish, a well
understood fact. He doesn't mention any statistics about C&R mortality
of shad. I'll give him the benifit of the doubt and suggest that there
aren't any statistics yet.

I suspect that if Mr. McPhee had come armed with a boatload of statistics
you'd have no trouble at all in dismissing them.

I learned a long time ago that there is an enormous surplus of fools in this
world. There are, in fact, so many that one can always find plenty on every
side of every issue. Naturally, it follows that whatever stance I, for
example, might take on any issue, there are innumerable fools who agree as
well as an approximately equal number who disagree. I got a shiny new
nickel say you can guess which group concerns me more.

Wolfgang
who, it will be apparent, is not afraid to take an occasional risk with one
of his precious nickels.