As with most human needs, the hunger for more and more fish on the table appears unquenchable.  Rivers, lakes and seas, however, are suffering from the onslaught.  Fortunately, you can do something about it by going green while you fish.

Take Only What You Need

In olden days, man only caught fish to sustain them in the months and days when it was scarce.  With their natural wisdom, they only took what they needed to survive - no more, no less - in the enlightened belief that they need to take care of nature so that nature may take care of them, too.

Look back into this enlightened belief whenever you feel the need to fish more than you need to satisfy your physical hunger and mental appetite.  If you find yourself catching more fish than necessary, throw the excess back into the lake so that it can be eaten by other fishes.  And so the cycle of life is protected.

Use Fish-Friendly and Eco-Friendly Materials

The use of fish-friendly fishing materials may sound paradoxical.  After all, you go fishing to kill the fish!  However, look at it from another perspective, that is, from the fishes’ point of view.  When you use a barbed stainless steel hook, you prolong the agony of the fish especially when it puts up a fight.  Now, if it escapes your clutches, it will have difficulty dislodging the hook and that will further prolong its torture.

Instead, use barb-less hooks that can be pried loose by long nose pliers in case you want to set the fish free.  Also, use bronzed hooks that easily corrode so that the fish may have a chance of living longer. Who knows how many generations of fishes you could have saved from that single fish?

As for eco-friendly materials, avoid those that contain lead as it is a highly toxic metal.  Just imagine how polluted our rivers and lakes are with the accumulation of lead sinkers!  And don’t forget that you will eat the fishes that feed from such lead deposits, thereby, giving you a dose of your own poison.

Take Your Trash with You

With the many materials and equipment used in sports fishing, from the bait to the line to the plastic containers, it is no wonder that we see floating piles of trash in previously pristine areas of fishing waters.  If you have ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, think of it relocating to your favorite fishing spot.  You will then be encouraged to take your trash with you and dispose of it properly!

Furthermore, the materials from the fishing equipment end up in the fishes’ food system.  Your plastic containers, fishing lines and bait bags, which are toxic in the long run, are ingested by the fishes.  This, in turn, leads to their death and toxicity.  Now, if you eat these fishes, you are again getting a dose of your own poison.

In addition to taking only what you need and taking your trash with you, it also helps to walk and row when you can.  Tramping through the plant growth and churning up the waters only spells harm to the environment.

Just take care of the environment as much as you can and it will take care of you, too!  Soon, our fishes will be healthy and so would you be.

Photo by: Ulrich Müller -
Fotolia