Keep a Trophy…. Save a Fish

Keep a trophy … save a fish  By Rodney Barreto, Chairman
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Few things beat the satisfaction you get from landing a big saltwater fish, or catching a type of fish you’ve never caught before.

It’s also natural to want to preserve your special moment, and sometimes you want something more than just a photo of your catch to commemorate your experience to share with family and friends.

Today, it’s possible to do just that and still do your part to conserve Florida’s precious marine resources. Professional fish taxidermists produce high-quality, anatomically accurate fish mounts for anglers; they can even capture the size, shape, markings and colors of your fish. Best of all, they don’t need the fish to reproduce its likeness, so the fish can be returned to the water to help maintain healthy fish populations and provide exciting angling experiences for others to enjoy.

One of my all-time favorite stories illustrates the point that “real fish” aren’t needed to make a mount. A very good friend of mine went out on a fishing trip off Key Biscayne and took his brother-in-law and the brother-in-law’s son to catch sailfish. They had a very enjoyable day of fishing and happily returned to shore with two beautiful sailfish.

My dear friend, uplifted by the day’s success and feeling a great sense of generosity, kindly arranged to have the fish professionally mounted by a taxidermist as a keepsake for his two fishing companions.

About eight months later, my friend got a call from the taxidermist, who told him that the two fish mounts were ready and he could come by and pick them up. My friend then called me and asked if he could borrow my truck to haul his fish mounts home. It was around the time of the holidays, and he said he really wanted to get the trophies before Christmas, and that his son was real excited about seeing them.

So my friend took my truck to the taxidermist and pulled in to the docking space where customers park to pick up their completed mounts. Soon enough, a couple of fellows appeared out the back door with the sailfish and carried them to the back of the truck.

Unfortunately, as they were loading one of the mounts onto the truck bed, something went wrong and they accidentally broke off its beak. My friend was horrified! It was right before Christmas and he’d waited eight months to finally get his prized fish souvenirs, only to have one of the most prominent features of the fish break off.

“Wait. Don’t worry; it’s no problem,” said the man who broke the beak. He turned back to the loading dock and yelled out, “Hey, Louie. Bring out another No. 84 for this man!”

Obviously, there is more than one lesson to be learned here. Not only is it wise to know who you’re doing business with, but it simply isn’t necessary to kill the fish you caught to get a realistic representation of your exciting catch.

Fish taxidermists have several options available to anglers to produce realistic replicas of trophy fish. Usually, all they need is an accurate description of the fish, including the species and its length and girth. It’s also a good idea, if possible, to take a few pictures to show the uniqueness of your special fish as you carefully release it back to the water.

Many taxidermists today use fiberglass mounts to make beautiful representations of marine fish. These talented artists can even reproduce the specific colors and markings of your fish, and fiberglass mounts are durable and retain their beauty for years to come.

So go out and enjoy your next trophy catch, and remember that you can preserve the excitement of your fishing experience and still practice marine conservation at the same time.