I have noticed the same phenomenon. In years past it wasn't nearly as common for anyone to release ANYTHING caught while on a party boat. Nowadays I see it all of the time. As a matter of fact it was the rule of the day for a lot of us who went out on a second half day trip last friday. Once you get some fish for dinner I think it makes perfect sense to release the rest. I don't know the legality of a skipper telling a paying customer what he can do with a fish, but in my opinion it is up to the fisherman...We all pay for a license and a ticket on the boat and therefore have the same rights as the everyone else does as far as deciding what to do with a fish you caught. In my experience some skippers are paranoid that if the fish count isn't good everyday that the business will fail. I think on the contrary if they just counted fish, wether released or not we would all win. The fish could be recaught AND recounted another day. The sad part about rockfishing is once you get over a certain depth even released fish don't always survive.