Illegal Culling

They tried imposing that law in Washington state years ago. When all the clubs banded together and overwhelmed the fish & game meetings, they caved and compromised. Here's how it stands now:

If you keep fish and reach your limit while fishing, you're done, EXCEPT when fishing tournaments.

How can they tell whether or not you're in a tournament? Simple - each contestant has a big, fluorescent, elastic banner they slip onto their outboard that says "CONTEST" in bold letters. Anyone caught fishing with a limit in their boat and doesn't have a banner is fined. And of course, you can't cull a dead fish.

Bonus - flip the banner inside out and it's red. Anyone displaying that banner is in trouble and needs help.

Oh, our side of the compromise? If the mortality rate exceeds 10% on any given day of a tournament, game over. Go home.

We see this as a good thing that promotes proper catch and release measures. It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.

that seems like a simple enough solution.