Fish Cleaning and disposal

[lucabrasi]

After reading a reply to a post I am now very curious. What IS the proper way to dispose of fish entrails when you clean your fish on the bank. My grandpa taught me to throw them back in the river. I just thought that meant the lake too. He also kept everything he caught and even speared salmon back in those days it was allowed. Then people have told me over the years thats not what you do, you throw them aside. I know the birds and other critters can get them that way. I have heard people say both. What is the issue with putting them back in the water if this is not desirable? Also would the same go for a filleted fish? What do you do with the carcass?
I am sure it could be the Game Wardens personal outlook or attitude if he saw you doing one or the other but what is the "proper" way to dispose of them?
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[cpierce]

I don't know what the law is on this at different areas, but I would assume that it would be considered littering and bad manners to leave any fish parts in a public area.

For the most part if I harvest fish it depends on where I am at. First off to prevent the spread of disease never clean your fish at a different open water source than where you caught them. Such as don't catch them at stream B and clean them back at camp at stream A.

If I am in bear country then I dispose of entrails etc into the water far from camp. Be sure to puncture the air sac and sink them into deep water.

If I am at a local reservoir or somewhere close to civilization, then I will clean at the water, but dispose of the entrails in a plastic bag that goes into a dumpster.
You don't want to leave fish parts where kids are wading and people are picnicking.
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[maghunter]

If its a fish with a bag limit you have to leave the head and tail attached, so you cannot fillet them until you get home. I usually cut the gills to bleed them, then take them home fillet them, and I save the carcass to use as crawfish bait at Ririe. The crawfish in Ririe will strip a large steelhead carcass in about 45 minutes. My opinion would be throw the fish parts in the water to complete the life cycle.
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[prvrt]

I always clean the fish where I caught them unless it is Perch, they end up at home in the burn barrel. The entrails usually do not last long as other fish and crawdads consume them usually quite quickly. I do not fish where there are a lot of people like a beach or places kids play, so I have not had to worry about that. Around this area most people I think do not have a problem as cleaning a fish is part of fishing. I don't think I would want to be putting entrails into the dumpsters around the areas I fish due to animals. I have seen people throw the entrails up on the bank after cleaning fish. To me that is wrong as wild animals are drawn to it and if the animals do not clean it up, then it stinks. I figure if a fish dies in the water, nature recycles it. I do the same by throwing what is left back in the water.
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[Bardic]

Yeah, if I clean them at home they go to the cats (the furry kind). If I clean them at the river or lake I throw them in the water, but hopefully not where they will bother people. They release some CO2 if they don't get eaten by catfish and crawdads, but plant life dying can cause huge amounts of CO2 comparatively.

Although Fish and Game might consider that chumming if you are also fishing with them.
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[Kodiak1]

I usually clean my fish at home, but one thing to just think about: lakes like Redfish used to be healthy for fish because the 10,000 rotting carcasses littering the bottom of the lake after spawning insured that there would be sufficient zooplankton for the next generation to survive on. Now they are having to dump detergents (phosphates) in the water to replicate the process. In the state of Washington they are taking carcasses from hatcheries and placing them in spawning streams, because they have learned that this is an essential step in a successful spawning cycle. Mike
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[windriver]

Very interesting. I do learn something everyday on this site.

Great post everybody.

Windriver
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[idahoron]

[quote maghunter]If its a fish with a bag limit you have to leave the head and tail attached, so you cannot fillet them until you get home. I usually cut the gills to bleed them, then take them home fillet them, and I save the carcass to use as crawfish bait at Ririe. The crawfish in Ririe will strip a large steelhead carcass in about 45 minutes. My opinion would be throw the fish parts in the water to complete the life cycle.[/quote]

You are right. You can't fillet them to take home but you are allowed to eat them there if you are camping. Ron
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[Belasko]

As kodiak pointed out, the decomposition of fish actually improves the fertility of many streams. THey have studies that prove this in Alaska and in British Columbia as well. If you take that in to account, why wouldn't you through the entrails into the river or lake after cleaning a fish? No smell, it helps the ecosystem, it feeds other aquatic life including some fish in some areas. For this reason even when I catch suckers or carp, instead of throwing them on the bank like many people I'll slit them and throw them back if I feel they need to be killed (usually I just throw them right back in though).
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[michael44]

I usually bring mine home and fillet them, then my dogs get the scraps. They LOVE it.
If I clean them where I catch them the guts go back in the water.
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[Kodiak1]

Yes, Belasko, I am aware of the British Columbia/Alaska studies. One ofthe interesting things about those studies was that they showed the health of the forest was determined in part by the number of bears. When bears drag carcasses up into the forest, it has a major effect on the forest health. Who knew?!! The message is clear: don't mess with Mother Nature! Mike
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[Biglew]

It's interesting that when cleaning fish at the ramp at Chesterfield, before you can get the guts out of the first fish, the gulls will be lining up to fight over anything you toss in the water. Of couse this isn't the case everywhere, and a bit of common sense should tell us what to do with the innards. If I need to clean them before transport, and I know that they would pollute the point of debarcation, I would either clean them and dipose of the remains out in the lake, or put them in a separate bag for later disposal.
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[MMDon]

[quote Belasko]As kodiak pointed out, the decomposition of fish actually improves the fertility of many streams. THey have studies that prove this in Alaska and in British Columbia as well. If you take that in to account, why wouldn't you through the entrails into the river or lake after cleaning a fish? No smell, it helps the ecosystem, it feeds other aquatic life including some fish in some areas. For this reason even when I catch suckers or carp, instead of throwing them on the bank like many people I'll slit them and throw them back if I feel they need to be killed (usually I just throw them right back in though).[/quote]

That is really only true with fish returning from the ocean. These studies refer to the nutrients supplied from ocean fish. The same minerals and other biomass supplants are not present in fish that have remained landlocked.
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