I just talked to the enforcement office at the WDFW and they told me
at 1) you may give a legally caught fish to anyone as long as you don't try
to then go over your daily limit and 2) you may help a child and the fish
can be counted as part of the child's daily catch limit if the child "is
actively participating" which is determined by the enforcement officer at
the time of the catch and 3) if you do not go over your daily catch limit
the child may keep the fish in any case.
Regards,
Bruce
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rex S. Takasugi
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 2:35 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: Is it legal to give up your catch?
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
