K, I might as well put in my two cents worth.
The way I see it, barbed or barbless, makes no never mind to me.
I can catch fish with either, so if the law says barbless, barbless it is.
As to mortality, most of what I catch goes to the fry pan anyway. It is the #1 reason that I fish. So mortality for those fish is 100% anyway.
Naturally I release the smaller ones, I always did, long before catch and release became popular. I learned long ago that I could reduce the number of small fish caught by using big baits/lures. I still catch a few under legal size, they get released.
Oh and I don't fight the small fish. I use heavy tackle and real the small ones in ASAP. Minimal time on the hook, minimal time out of the water.
I want that fish to survive so I can eat it when it gets BIG.
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