So that is why we have milk crates on our kayaks!

I just read this in the online WDFW pamphlet and thought it was a little humerous. Next thing you know we will be required to wear scuba to escort them to the proper depth.

"If you catch rockfish while fishing for other species, the
best thing to do is move to another location where the
rockfish are not as abundant. If you do hook a rockfish
and want to release it, return the fish to the water as
quickly as possible and avoid touching the eyes or gills.
In water over 60 feet deep, the fish may have trouble
resubmerging. There are several methods you can use
to help. Try using an inverted plastic crate (such as a
milk crate) with a weight and line attached.
Drop the crate over the rockfish and lower it down to
depth, then pull up, releasing the rockfish. Or you might
try using a large, weighted barbless hook and placing it
in the skin membrane near the jaw of the rockfish, then
lowering it to depth and releasing the fi sh. Additionally,
commercially made release mechanisms are available
for purchase. Try to get the fi sh down to the depth at
which you captured it or at least to 40 feet of depth.
Here is a link to our website which has additional
information: http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/rockfi sh.html

Doug in sequim

 
How funny, I never read this but I always have used this method to release all my fish. I also send them back with a note, just in case they were late on their way to school when I caught them.
 

Heehee! Ya, I could just picture one of my second graders trying to convince me that they were caught by a "giant sea bass" that ate their homework and held them prisoner in a milk crate.

They are giving us some information in case we are interested in increasing Rock fish stocks in the region.  Particularly the south sound - where everything was just about commercially harvested out of existence almost 20 years ago.

No requirements, just advice - I'm just sayin' 

Thanks drool, you are right. When i first read it i just thought of just how absolutely clumsy i would look trying that on a kayak. I am all for conservation and balance too. IF.... If i had a nice big boat where i could stow a crate and weight easily and if i was pulling rockfish up from deeper than i am usually fishing i think i would try this. I hate it when i catch something that i can't keep and i know that i have damaged it enough that it won't survive. Had an experience with a hen pheasant one time that caused quite a bit of guilt   thanks for bringing us back to the intent of the suggestion. doug in sequim

Same here.  I'm a softy when it comes to killing things I can eat too.  On the other hand... I do wonder how long you can keep them on a hook till' you get a ling 

While we're on the subject, here's a page from the ODFW with some interesting videos on barotrauma research. There's one on a yelloweye being sent down in a box to be released at depth.

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/research/index.asp#hbtescape