Could Your Facebook Fishing Picture Land You In Jail?

Have you ever done this before?

1. Caught a fish that was out of season
2. Taken a picture of you holding the fish
3. Safely released the fish
4. Posted the fishing picture on Facebook or Instagram?

I know that I sure have…

Well did you know that the state of New York recently put in force a new ruling (and then quickly backtracked on the ruling after all of the uproar from NY citizens this past week) that by simply taking a picture with an out of season freshwater fish, it could land you a hefty fine or even worse… land you in jail?

Yep, the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) of New York imposed a new law earlier this month that stated:

“A person may not fish for a species (even if immediately released) during the closed season for that species on a given water. Fish caught during the closed season must be unhooked and released immediately. They may not be handled for any other purpose, including taking a picture.”

The Bottom line of the ruling (before the rule was rescinded this week): Anglers in NY can’t take an out-of-season fish out of the water for any reason other than to take the hook out and release it. Even if they quickly or leisurely take a quick picture of the fish, it is a ticketable offense.

And guess where they cleverly tried to insert this new rule that went effective in April…

They added this new rule on page 52 of the fishing guide that everyone gets when he or she received a fishing license… Yep, the one that sadly no one ever takes the time to read. And yes, it automatically went into effect for existing licenses as well.

Here is the first quote from DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) spokesperson Lori Severino before they backtracked on the ruling.

“It’s a ticketable offense. It’s all because of the social media thing and people posing with the fish for pictures. They often spend too much time dilly- dallying and don’t return the fish immediately to the water,” according to Lori Severino, a DEC spokeswoman. “This was designed to protect the fish species.”

And do you know what the penalty was for taking a picture with an out of season fish (even when immediately released) in New York? They set it at a Minimum fine of $250 with a Maximum up to 15 days in jail!

That’s correct, you could see yourself in the slammer just for posting a fishing picture on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or any social media site with a fish that is out of season.

Here is a picture and annotation from Syracuse.com on this subject of Facebook fishing pictures (if you can’t read the annotation that well due to small print, let me sum it up for you: “Had this picture been taken after April 1st, this guy would have been fined”

The Good News (A Complete 180)

The good news is that shortly after the NY DEC announced this new law, they reversed it to say:

DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino, in an email to Syracuse.com on May 22nd said she wanted to “clarify” the DEC’s position on the issue saying: “The DEC does not ticket anglers for taking pictures of fish.” Ms. Severino added that the “DEC urges everyone – anglers, researchers and others – to respect DEC’s regulation that fish caught out of season be returned to the water immediately to protect New York’s natural resources.”

We can only guess that the freshwater anglers of NY were clearly in a bit of an outrage, and after all of the constant phone calls, hate mail / hate emails, etc that they changed their stance.

And we can’t blame them.

So you might be wondering why we even reported on it if the rule was reversed? Well, let’s just say we don’t believe these kinds of rules are far from over.

How This “Social Media Fishing” Rule Could Resurface

Let’s face it, there is a problem out there with the some of the ways people “Catch and Release”… and it’s not just in NY.

As someone that owns a digital fishing company, I probably spend more time online looking at fishing pics and videos than most people in America. And I have seen fishing pictures on Facebook and Instagram that make me cringe when I see them. Examples such as:

• Pictures of anglers holding big fish the wrong way with no support on their stomachs
• Pictures of anglers keeping fish that clearly aren’t in the “keeper slot”
• Pictures of angler blatantly “bragging” about keeping illegal fish
• Pics of drunk anglers pouring beer down a fish’s throat and thinking its funny
• And some other ones that don’t bear mentioning on here

Of course, it is the 2% of boneheads out there that ruin it for everyone. You know, the ones that don’t respect the fish, that don’t respect the water (by leaving trash everywhere), and quite frankly make anglers look bad in the public eye.

The same irresponsible anglers that cause rules like this in NY to be created in the first place (New York was also trying to protect their beloved and endangered sturgeon).

It’s the same irresponsible anglers that have PETA in uproar about catch and release (yes, PETA recently spent quite a bit of time and money coming up with a campaign against catch and release fishing), it’s the same irresponsible anglers that have NY looking into catch and release, and it is the same anglers that give sport fishing a black eye.

Don’t be that angler.

Conclusion

Fortunately today all anglers are safe from fines and jail time due to a Facebook or social media post, but it will certainly resurface if anglers don’t unite to educate and inform everyone on how to properly catch and release without hurting the fish.

And keep in mind that even though this ruling may seem a bit overboard, it certainly wasn’t created because everyone is properly handling fish correctly and respecting our natural resources.

If we want our kids, our grandkids, and our great-grandkids to have the same experiences and love for fishing that we have, then we need to all help eliminate the small percentage of bozo anglers that are out there ruining it for everyone by taking home illegal fish, breaking rules, and even accidentally killing fish by keeping them out of the water too long to get the perfect selfie…

Finally, please know that authorities in all states are now looking very closely at Facebook and Instagram feeds to gauge how bad this issue is, as this is certainly not a dead topic.

We even read where some undercover Wildlife agents are starting to show up on a handful of streams, rivers, and public fishing areas with stopwatches timing how long anglers are keeping fish out of water before the release. Clearly, they see some issues or they wouldn’t be spending the resources and time to go to these extremes.

Once again, be smart while fishing. Do anything you can to protect and preserve our beloved water and fishing habitats.

P.S. – Please Share with a fellow angler to help spread the word, to make sure these kinds of rules never occur in your own state, and most importantly, to call attention to the knuckleheads that are forcing states to even consider these kinds of actions.

Fish On and RESPECT the FISH.