All fishing carries with it a certain mortality rate. For C&K fishing, it is 100%. For C&R fishing it is something less than 100%, depending on where (salt, estuary, upriver) the fish is caught and how carefully it is handled. There is no such thing as zero mortality in any fishery. There is no escaping that what we love to do is blood sport, even when fish are handled with the utmost care and there is no intent to kill.

For those who are ethically challenged by this dilemma, here's one way to rationalize and practice responsible C&R fishing. Quit when you have statistically reached the dead fish equivalent (DFE) of the daily bag limit for whatever it is you are fishing for. If the C&R mortality is 10% and the bag limit is one fish, then your self-imposed C&R limit should be 10 fish. In this scenario, if you were to C&R 30 fish, then you have statistically caused three DFE's, and have legally killed more fish than a law-abiding bonker who only takes one.