DEDICATED 2 CONSERV' OR KILLING BIZ?

[WAHOONBOX]

PLEASE HELP ME HERE WITH THIS DILEMA GUYS & GALS.....

IS IT ETHICAL FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TO SERVE ON AN INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION FOUNDATION AND ALSO SERVE ON A FOUNDATION WHO PROMOTES THE KILLING OF ALL SPECIES OF FISH WORLDWIDE WHICH IS THE IGFA ? ....(ALL CAPS)


AS CARLY SIMON ONCE SANG: "I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW"......

WELL PEOPLE....PALEEESE HELP ME HERE.....HELP ME SEE CLEARLY NOW! I WISH TO SEE CLEARLY HOW ONE COULD SERVE ON THE BILLFISH FOUNDATION ....A FOUNDATION WITH GOALS OF BILLFISH CONSERVATION....................AND AT THE SAME FREAKING TIME... SERVE ON THE BOARD OF THE IGFA ......A FOUNDATION WHO CLEARLY IS IN THE BIZNESS OF KEEPING RECORDS OF DEAD FISH.....I SAID D-E-A-D FISH......NOW DEAD BY MY STANDARDS IS "LACK OF ANY CONSERVATION PRACTICE"....DEAD IS DEAD ......AM I LOOKING AT THIS WRONG HERE OR IS THIS PLAYING BOTH SIDES OF THE MARINA .....I MEAN FENCE......???? IS SO....PLEASE CORRECT ME HERE

THE IGFA ...ACCORDING TO PAST IGFA VICE PRESIDENT MIKE LEECH ....WHOM I INTERVIEWED BY PHONE A FEW YEARS BACK TOLD ME WHEN I ASKED WHAT WAS THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE IGFA....HE CLEARLY STATED BACK TO ME THAT THE IGFA'S MAIN OBJECTIVE WAS RECORD KEEPING OF LARGE FISH......I CAME BACK TO HIM AND ASKED: ....."DEAD LARGE FISH? " ....HE REPLIED, : " WELL.........WELL YES"


MY POINT......

IS KILLING FISH FOR THE GLORY OF A WORLD RECORD A TYPE OF CONSERVATION I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH?

SURELY YOU CAN SEE CLEARLY THIS IS A CUT & DRY QUESTION HERE...

DEAL OR NO DEAL? ....I MEAN ......YES ....OR .....NO?

[Virginia-Hustler]

dont sweat the small stuff there mr wahooinbox

Its all good

[WAHOONBOX]

4-13-07.............HMMMMM I SEE YOU VOTED YES

I NEVER SWEAT.....

[JOE_DIRT]

Have they ever instituted the live release records yet? I read in a mag last year that they were coming up with a plan for it.

[ocalex]

i believe that they have stated the live release records but i dont know to many boats that are capable of wieghing a live 1000+ fish much less of releaseing it alive after. Box this is a question that i have though of many times not only about the igfa but also kill tournaments and representatives being part of the billfish foundation as well. possible conflict of intrestest??

[Squidnation]

Marty - I have gone round and round with hunters on this very thing. Sure I play it as a joke but I really don't get it. I was in the stand and saw 12 does and three 8 - pointers but I let them walk. Your a damn hunter why did you let em walk? Thats not the class of deer I am looking for. Well what are you looking for? I am looking for a trophy class deer that will score at least a 230 on the baffoon and snotrag rating system. Hmmm. sounds to me like you are looking to kill a big breeder. Nope Bill, most of those are older deer that have been breeding for a while and are on the down side. Hmmmm - Kind of like killing a grander blue marlin huh. ahhhh welll, yea kinda like that.

It is OK to let a hundred little deer walk so someone can kill a pig just so they can put it on the wall cause from all accounts that I have been told, old trophy deer taste like shit. But that same sportsman blows an artery when someone kills a billfish for the wall, the table, the record book or for whatever the hell reason he wants to.

Don't hunters let the little ones walk in the name of conservation and building the stock to have more trophy deer to kill. Don't waterfowl hunters have limits so that others may enjoy hunts in the future. and aren't their hunting organizations such as DU and National Turkey federation that promote these well founded ideals for the sake of buidling stocks and hunting them in the future. And isn't their a rating system to measure the size and quality of antlers on a trophy deer. Last time I look, hunters don't shoot them with a tranqualizer gun, take the measurement and release the deer. They kill him.

Well the fishing equivelent to that is the groups such as you have mentioned. They preach conservation, work towards rebuilding stocks but at the same time understand that some fisherman want to take a trophy animal. While I have never personally killed a billfish on my boat, I don't see anything wrong with it so long as the angler did it for a reason that he/she felt it was important for them to do so. I don't see anything wrong with an organization built to track the records of these fish that are taken. And I certainly don't see anything wrong with that very same organization preaching conservation and striving to rebuild our fish stocks.

The long and short of it is we all assume the risk of killing an animal anytime we put that animal in a position to fight for its life for our enjoyment or tablefare. The IGFA keeps records of those significant catches. So do you by the trophies that adorn every wall in your house. Believe it or not I think you are both on the same side.

[AhiSlayer]

Record keeping is just another tournament with an extra rule for line class and no lines out time

Being dedicated to conservation doesn't mean you can't kill a fish

It simply means yer only taking certain fish

Before fishing clubs most fishermen used handlines. Someguys saw this and compaired it to the gentlemens way of catching freshwater trout.

These pioneers understood that in order to attract people to their honey hole they would have to define how a fish is captured

No more handlines. Rod and reel only

Tackle makers scrambled to design tackle that could standup to the new rules and more important, the tough new quarry. Rods, reels, string, outriggers, kites and so on and so on. Outstanding catches were nationwide front page news

I don't fault a sportfisherman for taking and outstanding catch in a tournament. Even if the tournament never ends.

My concern is a bunch of billfish with leaders and hooks attched. I'm not convinced cutting a leader is the best way to release. But that's a different topic

ahi

[WAHOONBOX]

BILL YOU HAD BETTER BELIEVE I AM A KILLER WHEN ITS TIME

HECK I EVEN SEE WHERE STUART CAMPBELL IS ON THE IGFA BOARD OPF TRUSTEES....I KNOW HE IS A KILLER....

THE PURPOSE OF MY POST WILL ALL SUBMERGE ....A BIT LATER.....FOR I AM JUST APPLYING THE BOTTOM PAINT HERE

[clt_capt]

They have instituted live weighing for some species which are not considered "dangerous"

The IGFA rule book states that the scales must be on land - ie:not on a moving boat, so I doubt there will be a way to weigh any of the pelagic species.

I have a major issue with the idea of line class records and even fly records for billfish. No doubt it is quite an accomplishment to catch a blue on 2 lb test, but NO One can convince me that it is truly a test of angling skill - it comes down to boat handling and some measure of luck. Teasing a fish to the back of a boat, letting it bite a hook and sinking a flyer in it doesn't cut it in my book.

I dropped my membership and have repeatedly told their freaking Telemarketers to leave me alone. As long as they continue to publish records for dead fish, they will never get another penny from me.

By the same token I DO NOT fish billfish kill tournaments either - That is my personal preference.

I am by no means a "tree hugger" - I take my share of tuna, wahoo, mahi, king, etc - and have no trouble killing them. But one thing about them - I CAN fit them in my fishbox and keep them edible - I cannot do that with the billfish I've caught. If I can't properly take care of the meat, let it swim to be caught another day.

[WAHOONBOX]

I FOR ONE AM GLAD TO SEE YOU BACK HERE!!!