Fishing Derbies and Tournaments
note
Fishing derbies and fishing tournaments are different names for the same thing, but with some level of technical and legal nuances. For the sake of this document, we refer to all of these events as “fishing tournaments”.
Background
Fishing tournaments come in many flavors. There are professional competitive recreational fishing tournaments, amateur competitive recreational fishing tournaments, targeted demographic competitive fishing tournaments, how-to/educational fishing tournaments, non-gamefish promotion fishing tournaments, and nonnative fish culling tournaments.
Some tournaments are done for recognition, some for prizes, some for money, and some for conservation reasons. They can be measured in hours or days, and in some cases weeks, and involve a handful of people or dozens of people. They are held on lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams, and during both open water and ice fishing season.
Issues and concerns
NFC is a wild native fish conservation group. While many/most of our board members are anglers, and often serious anglers, as are many of our supporters, we are not a fishing club. NFC’s sole focus is the conservation, preservation, and restoration of wild native fish and their habitats. We are about fish not fishing…
Unfortunately, recreational angling is often in direct conflict with wild native fish conservation. Take anglers out of the equation and we wouldn’t have stocking and artificial propagation, hybrids, triploids, pigment deprived rainbows sold as “golden trout,” angler exploitation, and unnatural abundance and age class distribution. And the nonnative fish problem would be a fraction of what it is today.
When conservation organizations get too involved in what is seen by some as “exploiting” the resource they purport to be protecting, their message and mission often gets watered down and they drift from conservation into recreation. Nowhere is this more prevalent and obvious than it is the fish conservation world, especially trout and salmon. While they promote native fish, groups like TU defend wild nonnative fish as a second best option, or worse, a form of ecological placeholder for wild native fish.
Many people see competitive fishing tournaments as a form of resource exploitation. As such, they see them as a conflict of interest for conservation groups, and rightfully so in certain cases.
Some see how-to educational derbies and tournaments as promoting future resource exploitation, or creating more anglers. The positive message that we are creating more “stewards” of the resource is often overshadowed by the negative behavior and impacts of some anglers.
Others see non-gamefish promotional tournaments as putting pressure on a resource that is not being pressured today. The positive message that these species are important, under protected, and often exploited and wasted, is often overshadowed by the negative blowback and negative press.
Nonnative fish culling events are often opposed by anglers who like fishing for the targeted species, state agencies that see economic value in nonnative species, and animal welfare groups that see all life as sacred, regardless of its impact on wild native flora, fauna, and habitats. Then there is the issue of wanton waste, as not all nonnative fish can be consumed or “used”. There are also challenges in regard to the effectiveness and long-term impact of these events.
Many/most states have laws governing fishing tournaments. They often must be approved and permitted by the state, and are subject to very specific rules and regulations, including group size, length, time, tackle, fish handling, disposition of fish, etc.
While NFC has liability insurance for board members and officers, it does not cover volunteers. This includes non-NFC participants in fishing tournaments. In most cases, to truly protect the organization you need to purchase what is called “event insurance”.
policy
General Rules
As a rule, NFC does not support chapters “sponsoring” any form of fishing tournaments. The potential negatives are not offset by the potential positives. It simply is not worth the risk, and there are better and safer ways to promote the native fish message.
Exceptions
While NFC board members may participate in fishing tournaments of any type at their own discretion, we ask that you do so as individuals and refrain from wearing or saying anything that would imply that your involvement is sanctioned by NFC.
Chapters may formally participate in state or federal agency sponsored nonnative fish culling tournaments as volunteers. Participants must use low-impact and ecologically safe tackle to limit injury and incidental mortality of non-target species.
Allowed: Single hook, single point, barbless lures and flies.
Not Allowed: Multiple hook lures and flies, treble hooks, barbed hooks, non-biodegradable plastic/rubber lures, natural and synthetic bait, and lead weights or jigs
In some cases, chapters may be authorized to “co-sponsor” non-gamefish or nonnative fish culling tournaments with approval from National NFC. Decisions will be made based on the following:
Jurisdictional agency sanction
Who else is co-sponsoring the event
Whether the event has documentable and defensible ecological value
Likelihood of negative blowback