Conservation

Like any other animals, Fish should be respected and valued for their sporting potential and returned to the water alive and well, there will always be a need for a strong club to represent the interests of the “Marine Life” and the “Angler” - which is where you come in. Your support gives the strength to continue to persuade and educate the ill informed.

Ask any angler who fished our waters 15-20 years ago. A few hours out of the breakwater and the launch would have been full of narrow barred giant mackerel. It was not even necessary to go to Churna Island and khadda (The Continental Shelf). Today anglers troll from Dawn till Dusk and even one 15kg mackerel is a cause for celebration.

So how did it get to this?

Where have all the game fish gone?

A look at the sheer number of "illegal" trawlers and long-liners will give you a hint. The pollution levels and destruction of mangrove breeding grounds provide further clues. There are many factors that contribute to this decline, so what, as recreational anglers can we do?

The PGFA maintains that there is still time. The bumper fishing years of yesteryear can again become a reality. How you ask? Simply by deciding that you, on an individual level, will play your small part in the conservation process, The PGFA does not claim that trawlers will be stopped, the mangroves will be saved, or any other such major change will take place through our efforts at once. Rather, we are simply a group of anglers who have decided to do our part in conservation. We will do this by releasing fish excess Bag limits, undersize fish, endangered species, and sometimes releasing entirely. (See PGFA Rules)

No recreational angler can maintain that when he kills 50 tuna, 100 trevally or 20 trout that our sport has no effect on fisheries. Recreational anglers DO have an effect on fish stocks and the sooner anglers stop fooling themselves and blaming only govt. authorities and commercial fisherman the better. Yes the marine systems are being destroyed by katra (The Wire net), but we as recreational anglers are at present a part of the problem. It is time we became part of the solution instead.

So the next time you go fishing consider releasing extra and undersize fish. We can make a difference and play a part in saving the marine environment by our actions today. We need to build a release culture in our angling community so that future generations don't just hear about the fantastic fishing we have, they actually experience it.

If you care, then please join us