Eco-Friendly Fishing Practices: Reducing Your Environmental Footprint

We love fish, we love fishing. The hard part is doing it all while leaving the habitat and the fishery intact. The way you treat fish, the tactics you use, and the equipment you’ve got in your hands all play a role in sustainability. 
Our ancestors wiped out populations, dammed and damaged rivers, and left scars on fisheries that in turn, we need to fix. Here’s how to be a more responsible angler.

Sustainable Fishing Practices

Where do you start when it comes to sustainable fishing? 

1. Use the Right Gear

Let’s say you’re fishing under a bridge. A snook takes your bait and snaps the line. What could you have done differently? Was your rod to light, you line too weak? Did your knot pull? Showing up under gunned or underprepared will leave a fish swimming with a hook in its throat and line dangling from its lips. It’s important you use the right gear in every situation. If you have questions ask a local guide or outfitter, they want more fish too, and would be happy to explain how to better take care of your catch.

2. Release Them Right

Just because you’re releasing a fish, doesn’t mean it will survive. If dealing with delicate fish like alpine mountain trout, use barbless hooks and keep them wet. If fishing hot summer flats, use a leader strong enough to land a fish quickly, before it burns up in a low oxygen environment. If bottom fishing, vent your fish or use a descending device. Whatever fish you’ve got, just remember it’s never been on land, its body wasn’t designed to feel the effects of gravity, and it just fought for its life. Treat the fish right and release it to swim off strong. Don’t flip it on the concrete, throw it onto the rocks, or let it go without a proper side to side revival.

3. Target fish that can handle it

We all love to fish, but sometimes we’ve got to let them do their thing. If a trout is sitting on a red guarding its bed, let it be. Don’t fish it, and don’t walk on its eggs. Let these fish spawn out and there will be more fish per mile next year. Respect season and targeting closures. Some fish like striped bass are on the decline, and when local regs say not to mess with them, just don’t. When water temps in western rivers are too high, go somewhere they’re not. These fish will kill themselves trying to get off the hook and it’s a waste of a resource.

4. Just because you can doesn’t always mean you should 

Just because you can kill 15 speckled trout, 25 crappie, or 100lbs of whiting doesn’t mean you have to. We love bragging to our buddies, and bringing meat to the dock, but it’s important you only kill what you plan to eat. If you find yourself freezing fish or throwing them away, take a step back and think about harvesting what you know you can eat. A few fish for dinner, maybe a few for the neighbor, but you don’t always need a full box. Don’t let you ego fuel overharvesting.

5. Vote with your wallet

When possible, choose reusable products—from water bottles to bags—and avoid single use plastics. Whether you’re buying waders, boots, apparel or sunglasses, always look for environmentally responsible brands that make sustainable products AND give back to the planet with concerted conservation efforts. 

For example, Bajío Sunglasses offers sustainable bio-resin frames that come in cactus leather cases, bamboo performance hoodies, and organic cotton tees printed with eco-friendly dyes shipped in eco-conscious packaging—right down to the packing tape. In addition to creating premium fishing sunglasses, Bajío Sunglasses' eco-commitment to its mission goes well beyond manufacturing sustainable products.

Sustainable Fishing Initiatives & Partnerships

At Bajío, the goal is to protect and restore the planet’s saltwater flats (bajíos). Bajío’s first feat was taking the necessary steps for Bajío to be carbon neutral from inception—through Emerger Strategies Bajío planted mangroves to offset any carbon emissions, which in turn provided fish habitat and helped protect coastal areas from erosion. 

The foremost organization advocating for carbon neutrality in fly fishing (and the outdoor industry as a whole), Emerger Strategies is a sustainable business consultancy that provides strategies to businesses who choose to measure and improve their company’s sustainability performance for the benefit of future generations. 

"Fly fishing taught me that everything in nature is interconnected,” says Rick Crawford, President of Emerger Strategies. “Just as a mayfly, a sipping trout, and a river ecosystem are connected, so are our businesses and the planet, and we have a vision of businesses and the environment thriving together.”

Emerger assesses the environmental and social impact of a company’s operations, products, and packaging to develop and implement strategies that promote social and environmental responsibility.

Beyond the carbon neutrality initiative, every Bajío purchase gets us closer to the goal of healthy flats by helping to fund conservation efforts. As a small business, Bajío can make an impact. But by banding together with other cause-based, like-minded brands the impact is much greater. 

Bajio’s Rooster Program

Bajío’s Rooster Program has cleaned 12+ miles on the beaches of Xcalak, Mexico by selling tees and hats. The Temples of Change sunglass project has planted 300+ corals through Oceanus, A.C. on the Mesoamerican Reef. A partnership with MANG has grown to help plant mangroves with holiday product purchases. Partnering with 4Ocean on product promotions, Bajío’s customers have helped clean up pounds of plastic from the world’s oceans, rivers and coastlines. 

Honing in on the oyster, which can filter up to 50 gallons of coastal water per day, removing the toxins from runoff and creating a habitat where hundreds of species like fish, crabs, and shrimp can thrive, Bajío also partners with Toadfish to promote products whose sales help plant oyster beds.

Bajío’s mapping projects in the Yucatan Peninsula and Guanaja, Honduras (in conjunction with Bonefish & Tarpon Trust and the University of Alabama) have provided scientists with critical information on the baseline of these areas through drone footage, satellite imagery, and ground truthing—so we know where we stand currently and can set goals to improve the health of these flats for the future. And that’s just the beginning for the 3-year-old company.

When it’s time to replace old gear or try a new product for your next fishing adventure, join Bajío’s efforts to preserve our waterways by doing your research to make sure the companies you’re rewarding with your business to have the planet’s best interest in mind when creating, packaging and delivering your shiny new gizmo as well as contributing to larger conservation efforts world-wide.