Fish Conservation
For The Future of Fish and Angling - Three Actions by JGFA -
We love fish, both as the angling target and food. However, if the current pace of harvesting continues, more stock of fish species collapse.
Anyone can make contributions to the sustainable angling in future, and we have to act before it is too late.
BAG LIMIT
If no legal limit exists, we make one.
As we learned from the practices overseas, well-planned bag limit can have positive impact on fish resource, as easily observed in the cases of redfish or striped bass on the east coast of United States. Japan doesn’t have the legally-binding bag limit yet, but it is high time for employment. JGFA advocates to install self-imposed bag limit to stop overharvest of fish, and the target numbers are elaborately set.
JGFA’s Recommendations
JGFA’s Recommendations
CATCH & RELEASE
Should we harvest it now?
Ethical anglers and commercial fishers seem to have let go of the fish that is small and not suitable for consumption without being told to do so. And it only make sense to expand the application to the larger end to let them have most opportunities to reproduce. Lee Wulff, a great contributor to the growth of IGFA and the Hall-of-Famer, said, as early as in 30’s, that “Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once.” We cannot agree with Lee more.
TAG & RELEASE
An angler-initiated research
Although we do have tagging programs in Japanese waters hosted by various research and management organizations, the species are chosen depending on their commercial value, not popularity among anglers. In order to involve anglers to better the knowledge of game fish, JGFA launched tag & release programs in 1985. So far, as many as 160,000 fish were tagged, and more than 2,000 were recaptured, to provide us with quality data. Billfish species are tagged in cooperation with the Billfish Foundation (TBF).
Recent Tag & Release Data （3.9ＭＢ）
