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TUESDAY, JANUARY 01, 2008
Debate over shrinking fish grows
By PATRICIA SMITH
FREEDOM ENC
MOREHEAD CITY - Bill Moss of Beaufort has always heard that fish shrink after they've been out of the water awhile. He has heard stories from anglers who have tried to keep this from happening, some going as far as putting king mackerel in body bags filled with water.
Moss has never tested that method or others. Instead, when he goes fishing, he keeps fish a little larger than state rules allow.
"It's just to make sure that there's no question as far as the legal size of the fish," Moss said
He is not alone in this thinking.
Greg Dennis, owner of The Reel Outdoors in Emerald Isle, said he often hears his customers speak of their beliefs that fish will shrink, though he said shrinkage is more noticeable in bigger fish.
"Most of them usually try to get them a little bit bigger (than the size limit)," Dennis said.
But David Willis, owner of EJW Outdoors in Morehead City, said shrinkage is a fisherman's tall tale.
"Most of the time if you hear that, it's from somebody who just got caught with too small a fish," Willis said.
Some Onslow County commercial flounder fishermen think it's time the matter got settled. They'd like to see an independent study done to find out if fish get smaller the longer they are out of water.
"Most of the fishermen know that it's true," said Richard Tallman, a commercial fisherman from Jacksonville.
Flounder that has been out of the water and on ice for several hours will shrink anywhere from one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch, he said.
"I can have a fish on ice for five or six hours when I'm out there and in the summertime he's definitely going to shrink, sometimes a quarter of an inch," said Earl Cox, also of Jacksonville.
Jay Estus of Jacksonville said he has measured the difference in flounder to test the theory.
"Different fish will shrink up at different rates," Estus.
Yet Estus knows his tests would be viewed as one-sided.
Tallman, Cox and Estus would like to see a scientist's conclusions.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries did look into the matter in a small study in June 1989 after a change in the flounder size limit, said David Taylor, head of the agency's Fisheries Management section.
Twenty-two flounder, ranging in size from 9 to 14 inches, were kept on ice and measured every day for five days.
"Those flounder did shrink," Taylor said.
After one day, the fish had shrunk on average about one-tenth of an inch, Taylor said.
At the end of the five days the flounder had shrunk between a little less than one-fifth of an inch and a little more than one-third of an inch, Taylor said. The average shrinkage after five days was about two-tenths of an inch, he said.
"I think they kind of dehydrate when you put them on ice and that causes the shrinking," Taylor said.
It is something that probably does not happen to fish kept in a live well, he said.
This shrinkage, however, is considered negligible and is not something Marine Patrol officers take into consideration when enforcing fishing size limits, said Capt. Steve Anthony, who works in the division's Central District.
"Fish that officers come into contact with, the vast majority is freshly caught fish," Anthony said.
Marine fisheries rules apply to possession of the fish, not the catching of a fish.
"If it's an undersized fish, the person is in violation," Anthony said.
Tallman said he thinks a scientific study could lead to law enforcement policy changes that could save fishermen from citations.
Nancy Fish, spokeswoman for the division, said the proper avenue to address this issue would be through the Finfish Advisory Committee to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission.
But Taylor said he doesn't see such a study as a priority.
"I don't see any benefit to us to spend a whole lot of time doing that," Taylor said.
Original Publication Date 3/7/2004
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