The terms “trash fish” and “rough fish” are relics from an age of naïve wildlife management, where fishery biology meant culling the undesirables to make room for a bass or a trout. What that meant for the suckers, burbot, gars, and other rough fish species is that they didn’t receive protection and populations weren’t monitored. Many of these species have become endangered and a few have even gone extinct. Some states even made it law that it was illegal to release these fish and mandated that these fish be killed and taken to shore. Generations of anglers were taught to kill anything that didn't have value as a "sport fish." Unfortunately, even though these laws have long since passed, the practice of tossing these fish up on the bank to die remains.
Last weekend I walked down to one of my favorite fishing holes hoping to catch some pike. As I approached the best eddy in the area, I was disappointed to see (and smell) the rotting carcasses of a dozen or so goldeye and a nice freshwater drum wasting away on the bank. Nobody would ever treat a walleye like this, so why would they do this to shad and drum? Well, they probably think that by taking some non-game fish out of the river then there will be more food for the fish they’re targeting, not realizing the complexity of the underwater ecosystems. You wouldn’t shoot a porcupine just because it shares habitat with mule deer, so why do we treat fish this way? Ignorance.
I know that I am likely preaching to the choir here, but it irritates me to think of the millions of burbot left on the ice, the bowfin tossed into the reeds, and the suckers left on riverbanks. I understand that goldeye and drum are both abundant species, but they are both native species and even beautiful in their own way. In my eyes, they deserve just as much respect and have a greater claim to habitat than the nonnative game fish. They certainly deserve more than rotting on a bank. If you want to use them, by all means, keep as many as you want. If the fish is invasive, I encourage you to kill them, just don’t leave them to rot on the shore.
As sportsman, when we have the opportunity to improve our practices, we do it. Culling native “trash fish” should have ended decades ago. Fortunately, most anglers don’t do this anymore, but for the ones who do, stop. Each fish species fits into a unique niche in a complex ecosystem and leaving them to rot on a bank is disrespectful to both the fish and to fishing as a whole.
Last weekend I walked down to one of my favorite fishing holes hoping to catch some pike. As I approached the best eddy in the area, I was disappointed to see (and smell) the rotting carcasses of a dozen or so goldeye and a nice freshwater drum wasting away on the bank. Nobody would ever treat a walleye like this, so why would they do this to shad and drum? Well, they probably think that by taking some non-game fish out of the river then there will be more food for the fish they’re targeting, not realizing the complexity of the underwater ecosystems. You wouldn’t shoot a porcupine just because it shares habitat with mule deer, so why do we treat fish this way? Ignorance.
I know that I am likely preaching to the choir here, but it irritates me to think of the millions of burbot left on the ice, the bowfin tossed into the reeds, and the suckers left on riverbanks. I understand that goldeye and drum are both abundant species, but they are both native species and even beautiful in their own way. In my eyes, they deserve just as much respect and have a greater claim to habitat than the nonnative game fish. They certainly deserve more than rotting on a bank. If you want to use them, by all means, keep as many as you want. If the fish is invasive, I encourage you to kill them, just don’t leave them to rot on the shore.
As sportsman, when we have the opportunity to improve our practices, we do it. Culling native “trash fish” should have ended decades ago. Fortunately, most anglers don’t do this anymore, but for the ones who do, stop. Each fish species fits into a unique niche in a complex ecosystem and leaving them to rot on a bank is disrespectful to both the fish and to fishing as a whole.
