I think we all need to consider that some people have never even heard of the concept of CPR for catfish. As has been mentioned in the past, most people have grown up catching catfish for food and not sport. THat is changing thanks to people like Salsa and the other people on this forum. But it's a process that may need to be done slowly.
I have never been much of a fish eater, but I used to jug fish a lot. I released 95% of the fish. Only kept them when a fishing buddy wanted to keep some. I didn't know how to chase blues on rod and reel and still am not that good at it. CPR is a mindset. If people realize it takes so long for a catfish to get to even 10 pounds.
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishing/research/bluecatfishmanagementresearch.pdfSo instead of jumping on people, give them the statistics and suggest that they release the fish. These guys may have never heard of CPR before. THey may be bass fisherman that jug for food and fun. I'm guessing they didn't know much about CPR since one of them posted about the fish on this forum. If they knew about CPR, they probably would have learned it from here and if they were reading comments here often, they would have known not to tell about their fish on this forum for the backlash they would receive.
So I'm all for promoting CPR, but we can't do it by bashing people that keep big fish. Give them a chance to think about the concept after they hear about it for the first time and encourage them to release the fish next time. CPR in bass fishing didn't happen overnight. It took a big organization and several years to change the mindset of fisherman. No make sure you have signed the
petition.
