Social media and the outdoors: computer 'cops' are watching you

Social media definitely has its upside when it comes to the great outdoors. In fact, the list of pros is virtually endless.

But it most certainly has its downside as well. Just ask anybody who's ever posted a photo of something that a "computer warden or guardian" — without knowing all the facts — deemed illegal or immoral and proceeded to lambaste the individual who made the post.

I'm talking primarily about Facebook here. If you plan to post an innocent, legitimate photo, make sure that when the computer cops zoom in, there's nothing showing that you should have covered, cropped or explained.

This isn't to suggest anything goes as long as nobody gets the full picture. On the contrary; when it comes to our woods and waters, I'm all for conservation; always was and always will be. Bag limits, season dates, tags, etc., are there for a reason, and without them we'd probably have very little left to catch or hunt.

What I am saying is that if you are gonna post a photo of you and a buddy with what appears to be a few trout over the limit, save yourself the agony of those computer cops and add a brief note to your caption, informing readers/viewers that there were three of you fishing, including the guy who took the photo.

Try as they may, Facebook group administrators often have their hands full weeding out negative individuals, comments and swearing that would put a sailor to shame. At times the accusations and replies are sarcastic and defaming; some get quite nasty and personal, occasionally resulting in threats or even fist fight challenges.

All because somebody assumed an angler kept an extra couple trout? Give me a break!

On June 10, Chris Roberts posted a picture of approximately three dozen trout, all cleaned and laying on a large rock.

His own comment attached to the photo was, "What a day we had."

The vast majority of observations were along the lines of, "Nice catch, congrats," but there were a few insinuations that he had caught more than the legal limit, resulting in quite a discussion that garnered more than 180 comments.

I contacted Chris and asked how many were fishing with him.

"Three of us that day; 12 fish each," was his reply.

Eight years back, I posted a photo that one of my buddies took of me holding a 58-centimetre grilse at Torrent River, with couple of my fingers in the gills and a rip through the side of its mouth. It didn't take long for a local salmon association member to say something about how the fish wouldn't survive when I released it, based on the way I was holding it.

"Probably not," I replied, "but I wasn't planning on releasing it. That fish was seconds away from being tagged to bring home to my wife."

I didn't call him out or criticize him; this was simply an incorrect assumption on his part.

And then there are occasions when we have to put up with the purest of purists.

In 2016, avid angler and conservationist Tommy Mercer of St. John's hooked and released a 10-11-pound salmon at Codroy River. Before releasing it, he was photographed kissing the head of the fish. And wouldn't you know it — a couple of purists commented that he shouldn't have done this because it could cause serious harm to or even kill the fish.

Baloney!

While any fish I plan to release are handled as gently as possible, I've seen and heard of numerous examples over the years of salmon proving to be more resilient than some give them credit for being.

I fished Gander River one day in 2018 with a fisheries biologist from Scotland who was in Newfoundland for a conference and stayed an extra couple days to go salmon fishing.

We were chatting about the mighty Atlantic salmon, and I asked him if the fish was as delicate as some of the purists would have you believe.

His shook his head and in his strong Scottish accent, answered simply,

"Gord, they're not made out of paper."

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