I have just witnessed a lot of line fishing where people un-hooked the fish due to undersize & returned them to the water. This seems a noble gesture at first glance.
However, taking a closer look, I watched in disbelief how the larger number of undersized fish had the hooks torn out half-way down their throats & drifting lifelessly away at being 'released'.
My question is; Why are barbed fishing hooks still legal in Australia ?
I think that more fish are killed because of BARBED hooks than would be by using BARBLESS hooks.
I think it's high time barbed hooks were banned from particularly the Great Barrier Reef where depletion of fish is now very noticeble during scuba diving.
Another Leanderthal mentality is to leave fish flapping away on jetties un til they finally succumb.
To me this is a reflection of the poor mentality that is still so prevalent !

Indi,

It is entirely possible to remove a barbed hook without killing the fish. That idiots can't be bothered or throw the fish on the ground is because they are morons. Taking an extremist knee jerk response to ban barbed hooks is the type of response expected of left whinge nut jobs.

Totalitarian state governments are gradually closing down the sport of angling, and fish stocks are dwindling. I buy fish from a professional fisherman. Couldn't be bothered sitting for hours trying to catch them. The days of hunter gathering are supposed to be behind us.

ttbn,

After China sends its fishing fleets to mine for seafood in Australia's fishing grounds there won't be any more fish for you and your family, who will then start getting sick from iodine deficiency.

Mr. O,

Remember the foreign fish guzzling super trawl operating in Bass Strait before public uproar put a stop to it?

And, if our wet government can pretend it knew that a couple of Chinese warships were going to steam into Sydney and buy up baby formula, and China has been allowed to take over an international water way (South China Sea) well, yes: there is no reason why they won't hoover up what is left of our fish.

Had the Ad Man been aware of the Chinese warships visit, the entire Federal and NSW parliaments would have been out on the wharf, bowing and bobbing, each with a full trolley of baby formula ready to be loaded onto the ships.