Wrasse kill or Release

The ballan wrasse is my favourite fish to catch, hard fighting, great looking fish that take a very long time to grow to a good size. For these reasons I give them the respect that they deserve and put them back 100% of the time. I really hate to see pics of dead wrasse on the internet and I would also really like to see all wrasse banned in competitions to.
 
bigroppa said:
They make good eating, especially in stews and curries as the meat holds together. I do take them if im fishing a match, otherwise they are released. Again we have an argument of anglers keeping size fish they have caught but just take a look at what the inshore gill netters catch, they get hundreds of wrasse stuck in there nets, which are mainly just dumped if they cant sell them for pot bait.
The club I fish in now also offers a choice when it comes to wrasse, if you have a witness from the club next to you, the fish can be weighed, photographed then released and still count towards your match total. Personally, I eat them so don't mind taking a couple.
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we have no control over the gill netters and there practices Chris,what we can do is protect our sporting fish,if Wrasse packed on weight like our white fish species and were shoaling tidal fish then there would be no debate,the fact remain that wrasse are slow growing,resident fish that are territorial and once wiped out could take years to be re - established,personally Ive had good Wrasse during matches in SW Scotland and always returned them but that is a decision made by myself,only the individual can decide the value of a species to them,a 20lb bag weight of Wrasse would be approx 80 years of combined growth which would have won very little at the time.
 
lambtonworm said:
its not so much the species but its growth rate like stated a 3lb wrasse is approx 15 years old,there is nothing worse than seeing in a Angling Magazine something like a 8lb wrasse with its captor all smiles not knowing the thing is around 40 year old and way beyond any eating value its destined for the bin ..
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hi mate im with you on wrasse , but what about the plaice it has about the same growth rate as the wrasse and is a fish in decline. but you see them killed all the time. a 1.5 lb fish that you can not get a decent fillet off is regarded as a good fish by some.
 
moocher said:
hi mate im with you on wrasse , but what about the plaice it has about the same growth rate as the wrasse and is a fish in decline. but you see them killed all the time. a 1.5 lb fish that you can not get a decent fillet off is regarded as a good fish by some.
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your right in what you say and Plaice likewise is a slow growing species along with Bass,the problem with the two are the fact they are a commercial and recognised table fish that demand top prices,i myself keep a few Plaice but size wise some you see in the supermarkets border on a disgrace.we can never have any say in what commercials target and Plaice will always been on there list,soft ground trawling and a good market Value,thankfully Wrasse are neither so we can help protect the species.
 
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lambtonworm said:
we have no control over the gill netters and there practices Chris,what we can do is protect our sporting fish,if Wrasse packed on weight like our white fish species and were shoaling tidal fish then there would be no debate,the fact remain that wrasse are slow growing,resident fish that are territorial and once wiped out could take years to be re - established,personally Ive had good Wrasse during matches in SW Scotland and always returned them but that is a decision made by myself,only the individual can decide the value of a species to them,a 20lb bag weight of Wrasse would be approx 80 years of combined growth which would have won very little at the time.
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lambtonworm said:
your right in what you say and Plaice likewise is a slow growing species along with Bass,the problem with the two are the fact they are a commercial and recognised table fish that demand top prices,i myself keep a few Plaice but size wise some you see in the supermarkets border on a disgrace.we can never have any say in what commercials target and Plaice will always been on there list,soft ground trawling and a good market Value,thankfully Wrasse are neither so we can help protect the species.
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as you say we have no control what the commercials , gill netters or supermarkets do. but we as anglers can help to protect fish no matter what the species .but you will not see many 2lb plaice put back. all you here is it,s pan size.
 
Can't even catch one mate. :(. Would release if I did get one though. Havent kept anything other than mackerel.

I'd say the bigger the fish, the more reason to release it - the big ones are the fittest, healthiest ones who are spawning the next generations.
 
theres no right and wrong here realese if im pleasure fishing if they will go back keep if fishing a match,at the end of the day its up to the angler what he or she does with there catch

as for CMR I think a few people think all the fish that get caught are realesed alive im afraid that's not the case load of small whiting,codling,flounders ect die but this acceptable as there a fast growing species.
 
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RELEASE.

I can understand why the match lads might want to weigh in though. Maybe the way forward would be for matches to go measure & release. Maybe a photo with a match ticket on a measure for evidence. This could apply to all species so that folk that want to put back can.

That said, I've got nowt against people keeping their catch. We pay so much for tackle & bait that if folk want a meal out of it then who can blame them.

Seen lots in print lately about folk not claiming record fish because they want to release. Maybe it's time the whole fishing community changed to measure / photo for competitions and records.
 
not_a_clue_about_fishing said:
I caught my first wrasse on friday (think this thread may have something to do with mine in the catch report section). Like I stated in there I kept it because I like to eat what I catch
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its not specifically about your Wrasse mate it was seeking the general opinion,
your fish would have been 20 year old and you have every right to eat it if you so wish,there are a lot of anglers out there that dont look in to background of certain species and then are quite surprised at the age or enviroment they live in,unfortunately money rules and if a 70 year old wrasse ends up in a weight match it will be sacrificed for a few quid,
 
People could take photos of wrasse weeks ago and cheat and try to weigh them in that wouldn't work mate,what anglers catch wouldn't make no difference to the wrasse community what so ever even though there slow growing
 
Personally I wouldn't kill a wrasse for the table no matter what the size only because they are a lovely looking fish and have heard they are rubbish to eat but it's up to each individual
To be honest I didn't realise the facts about wrasse so cheers Andy - lambtonworm that's good to know facts like that
 
Release every time and ban them from all matches. But as with all things it boils down to greed where there's money involved, i.e. Matches.
 
toonboymc said:
Personally I wouldn't kill a wrasse for the table no matter what the size only because they are a lovely looking fish and have heard they are rubbish to eat but it's up to each individual
To be honest I didn't realise the facts about wrasse so cheers Andy - lambtonworm that's good to know facts like that
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I agree m8 good info that lambtonworm
 

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