Some of the discussion we had at the national was about culling dead fish.
Alabama law ( got this from another site) Each state has it on law.
220-2-.13 Reasonable Effort Must Be Made to Retrieve Crippled Birds, Animals and Fish It shall be illegal for any person, firm, or corporation to kill or cripple any species of game bird, game animal or game fish without making a reasonable effort to retrieve same and include it in his daily bag or creel limit.
Just talked to a TWRA officer at lunch and he said that in TN if a fish dies in your possession it counts as part of your daily creel limit. So basically it is illegal in TN to cull a dead fish for a live one.
depending on which twra officer you speak with because i spoke with an officer that night and he said it would count as part of your creel if you was checked. but no law against culling it? ? ?
U R correct ranger 361 there is NO LAW against culling dead fish in TN. Although most of the bigger tournament organizations including BASS now have gone to the "NO DEAD FISH" cull rule. Not sure about FLW. As a former ABC Director I never liked the rule mainly because it can't be enforced and I know personally that this rule has been broken. But with that being said, if it is a RULE I would abide by it. The only people this rule hurts are the honest ones who do abide by it, that is why I disagreed with it. It is IMPOSSIBLE to enforce in the smaller circuits like NBT or ABA.
i abide by it . i had livewell trouble on friday of the nationals and lost 3 fish. could have culled 2 with bigger fish. i think the dead fish penalty should be abolished
Well personally i don't think they should be culled. I definately don't think it's impossible to enforce it, if your dirtrict is honest and goes by the rules then you shouldn't have any problem with people abiding by it. I don't think you should get penalized half a pound though but you should still have to weigh in the dead fish. It's your responsibility to take care of that fish once it's in your pocession. I mean you don't shoot a deer and just leave it in the woods. Thats just not right.
As a board member. I would like to say thanks for all of your opinions on this matter. That is the reason for a message board for us to discuss and notify.
While the law in TN may be a little grey the policy being enforced by the officers is not. I talked with Jason Henegar in the state TWRA office and asked him the question. His response.....
Mr. Lowrie,
The following is the Procedure that the TWRA Law Enforcement Officers follow pertaining the Culling of Fish. We are working to better clarify this policy in the Sportfishing Proclamation.
Procedure:
(Culling) is defined as the removal of a fish from the creel limit and replacing it with another fish of the same species. 1. A licensed angler can legally catch and release fish anytime while afield even after the legal possession has been reached. 2. The culling of fish is permissable (unless prohibited by law) provided that the creel limit is only violated temporarily while a fish is being returned to the wild. The released fish must be alive, healthy specimen which should be expected to survive once it's returned to its natural environment. 3. At no time does this procedure permit possession over the creel limit except during the brief time it takes to swap out the fish.
I can forward the email to anyone who wants it.
So it IS NOT leagle to cull a dead fish in Tennessee.
Policy and Procedure is not defined as a "LAW". That is why the TWRA officer admitted it is seldom enforced. If this were the case the TWRA officers would have to be writing tickets at every club tournament or event that is held especially at this time of year. Plain and simple some fish are just gonna die at this time of year no matter how well you take care of your fish. But as I stated earlier no matter what tournament organization I am fishing, if it is a NO DEAD FISH cull rule I will abide. On the other hand if it is not a rule if I catch the limit and have a dead fish and can upgrade above the penalty I will also do that. I don"t think ANYONE who tournament fishes intentionally wants a fish to die and will do whatever they can to keep this from happening. But it does and will happen no matter what you do.
I agree with gmans position on this matter. I've fished tournaments for fourty years and can only think of one time that this would be an issue. The percentage of this happening is miniscule. I believe all of us diligently try to take of our creels. In hot weather some fish are going to be lost by tournament fishermen and pleasure fishermen as well. I think there's other more important issues to be dealt with. Also IMHO.