The sea is his friend I assume? At first I thought it was the worm, but I'm certain the worm wouldn't reciprocate any feelings of friendship with this guy.
He said he's a harbinger of death, not of catch and release. That's not torture, that's eating.
If you listen faintly, you can hear perhaps the world's smallest violin playing adagio for fish
Wow I can't believe you're bashing this guy's very genuine and sincere (and definitely not a joke) hat.
It's way too long-winded and pompously worded to be a good joke, though. A waste of time with little to no payoff.
Congratulations, you've identified half of what actually makes it a joke in the first place. Keep going, you're almost there!