PLEASE READ THE FULL QUESTIONS BELOW FOR THE POLL ABOVE
Thought i would see the general consensus of people on a site who are possibly passionate about all forms of animal. The feedback on this same thread on forums such as a fishing forum or animal rights forum are quite predictable, so maybe there is a more balanced mix of people here.
Where this has come from is that a few colleagues of mine have all independently heard a “rumour” that a number of animal rights groups are about to target the fishing industry in a big way to have all forms of fishing banned d as it is cruel to animals. From what I have heard, ironically it is the sports fishing industry they are supposed to be going after first. Now it is only aimed at the individual level, i.e. the father and son down on the rocks with bait in hand or lure, catching a couple on a Saturday afternoon.
So the poll is straight forward but to extrapolate on what the questions are:
“All fishing should be banned as it is cruel to the fish for the pure enjoyment of the person. If people want to eat fish, they can eat commercially caught or commercially farmed fish” This is pretty straight forward and captures all individual level fishing.
“Sport fishing should be banned as the trauma and stress caused to the fish for the sake of catching it and releasing it is cruel.” Obviously this is aimed at the sport fishing side of things where fish are caught and then released just for the sake of fun. From what we have heard on this, the analogy that appears to be being used is would you hook a dog in the mouth and wind it in from down the street. This by its nature therefore infers that catching fish for food is ok and relies on the premise that the cost of catching and releasing is far greater than the benefit of just catching for food purposes. At first glance it doesn’t make sense, the reason for sport is to maintain fish stocks, however, this idea is starting not to apply at all. I grew up fishing in Forster on the Mid-North Coast, but now when I look into the still legal areas to fish these are diminishing quite fast. Many areas are becoming sanctuaries, and are completely illegal to fish in. Thus with more non-fishing areas, it appears to possibly be the start of a long term strategy to outcast the sport fishing side of things.
“Only fishing for pest species should be allowed” Though we cant specifically inhibit what species grabs onto the end, pest species should be the only fish to be targeted as removing them from the natural environment is a good thing. This goes along the lines of not many people would willingly take a gun and go and shoot a lion or elephant for the sake of it, “for sport” however, shooting a wild pig/ buffalo/ or overpopulation of kangaroos falls within reasonable control methods to limit damage to the environment.
Lastly
“There is nothing wrong with fishing”
So, without getting into arguments, it would be interesting to get a balanced view on what others think and why, and as mentioned, my interest on it is due to growing up on the coast fishing 4-5 times a week.
Thought i would see the general consensus of people on a site who are possibly passionate about all forms of animal. The feedback on this same thread on forums such as a fishing forum or animal rights forum are quite predictable, so maybe there is a more balanced mix of people here.
Where this has come from is that a few colleagues of mine have all independently heard a “rumour” that a number of animal rights groups are about to target the fishing industry in a big way to have all forms of fishing banned d as it is cruel to animals. From what I have heard, ironically it is the sports fishing industry they are supposed to be going after first. Now it is only aimed at the individual level, i.e. the father and son down on the rocks with bait in hand or lure, catching a couple on a Saturday afternoon.
So the poll is straight forward but to extrapolate on what the questions are:
“All fishing should be banned as it is cruel to the fish for the pure enjoyment of the person. If people want to eat fish, they can eat commercially caught or commercially farmed fish” This is pretty straight forward and captures all individual level fishing.
“Sport fishing should be banned as the trauma and stress caused to the fish for the sake of catching it and releasing it is cruel.” Obviously this is aimed at the sport fishing side of things where fish are caught and then released just for the sake of fun. From what we have heard on this, the analogy that appears to be being used is would you hook a dog in the mouth and wind it in from down the street. This by its nature therefore infers that catching fish for food is ok and relies on the premise that the cost of catching and releasing is far greater than the benefit of just catching for food purposes. At first glance it doesn’t make sense, the reason for sport is to maintain fish stocks, however, this idea is starting not to apply at all. I grew up fishing in Forster on the Mid-North Coast, but now when I look into the still legal areas to fish these are diminishing quite fast. Many areas are becoming sanctuaries, and are completely illegal to fish in. Thus with more non-fishing areas, it appears to possibly be the start of a long term strategy to outcast the sport fishing side of things.
“Only fishing for pest species should be allowed” Though we cant specifically inhibit what species grabs onto the end, pest species should be the only fish to be targeted as removing them from the natural environment is a good thing. This goes along the lines of not many people would willingly take a gun and go and shoot a lion or elephant for the sake of it, “for sport” however, shooting a wild pig/ buffalo/ or overpopulation of kangaroos falls within reasonable control methods to limit damage to the environment.
Lastly
“There is nothing wrong with fishing”
So, without getting into arguments, it would be interesting to get a balanced view on what others think and why, and as mentioned, my interest on it is due to growing up on the coast fishing 4-5 times a week.
