Hi, Mark!
I'm no expert on the law here, but I think you're not allowed to
give your catch to someone else, even if it makes you seem like a nice guy.
As I read the regs on page 23, about the middle of the first column, it says
"You May Not Harvest any part of another person's daily limit, except for
persons who possess a designated harvester card." A little further down in
that first column, it also says "You May Not Offer any recreationally caught
fish or shellfish for sale or barter." It's a good lesson for all of us
because we all get asked from time to time.
Where the regs are murkier to me is when you take someone new
fishing, like a kid and the kid has trouble hooking a fish, so you hook the
fish for the kid and then hand the rod to the kid to play and land the fish.
Who actually caught the fish in this situation and who legally is entitled
to keep the fish (realizing that most of us would let the kid keep the
fish)?
Tight lines!
Rex
