Many animal rights campaigners seem to shy away from angling, whether sabbing or whatever, because they are not conversant with the necessary facts, especially on the pain issue. The followiny sections explain why angling is as much a bloodsports as any other.
There are three types of angling; coarse, sea and game fishing. Coarse fishing is by far the most popular and also the cruelest form of angling. It is carried out throughout the year, except during the close season (in most cases) between 15th March and 15th June, when the fish spawn. Coarse fish are mostly inedible and include all freshwater species except salmon, trout and grayling.
When caught. these fish are not killed instantly upon leaving the water, but exposed to an environment they are not designed to cope with. Primarily. they can't breathe. Other factors include stress imposed due to the sudden change in temperature, noise. vibration, oxygen concentration, light intensity and damage to a protective mucous layer. If fish survive this ordeal, they are often put into a keepnet. These nets are designed to contain fish underwater, before being released at the end of the fishing session. However many fish will receive injuries from the net mesh or from being squashed together with other fish and many will die due to depletion of oxygen over a period in these devices. Keepnets are most popular at fishing matches, enabling each angler to weigh his complete catch at the end of the match. Many pleasure anglers use keepnets simply as a personal ego boost.
Sea angling is practiced from piers, beaches, rocks harbor walls and boats. One fundamental difference between coarse and sea angling is at a competitive level; sea fish are weighed at dead- weight. As most fish caught are edible. it is rare for them to be released. Fish targeted includes shark. cod, conger ell, turbot plaice and dogfish, to name but a few. The roost brutal form of sea fishing is most probably shark fishing. Exhausted and in agony from hooks and gaffs (metal hooks on poles used in landing big fish) through their flesh, the sharks are dragged aboard and beaten upon the nose until dead.
Game fishing quarry include salmon, sea trout, brown trout, rainbow trout and grayling. These fish again usually end up eaten and the usual method of killing is with a club called a priest, although sticks and stones are also used. Hatchery-reared trout are used to re-stock game fisheries and a substantial degree of "vermin" control is undertaken at both fish farm fishery, including the extermination of predatory fish and fish eating birds. Game fishing tends to be the most expensive type and is considered rather elitist by its participants.
The pure barbarity of angling becomes clear on examining the process of hooking, playing and landing a fish. A fish is deceived into impaling itself on a (usually) barbed hook, resulting in the infliction of an injury. The angler may then "play" the fish in order to tire it and allow it to be landed. On leaving the water, a fish is unable to extract oxygen from the air and is subjected to extreme stress. During the handling process, a protective mucous covering which provides the creatures waterproofing and protects it from infections, is damaged. If a fish has swallowed the hook, the hook's retrieval is very difficult, the suffering is prolonged and is likely to result in damage to the fish's gut and subsequently death.
The moment the fish leaves the water, it enters an alien environment in which it is ill-equipped to cope. The gills collapse and breathing is virtually impossible. After oxygen is exhausted from the bloodstream, bleeding may occur from the gills. Combined with the trauma of capture and handling, considerable stress is inflicted. Following return to the water, an exhausted fish may remain motionless for a long period, during which it is at risk from predators and environmental damage.
People who say that it cannot be proven beyond doubt that fish can feel pain, must also admit that the same can be said of any animal other than humans. Only the latter can report in words the sensations experienced. However, society at large does not accept that the reactions and squeals of warm-blooded animals are purely mechanical. Based on our knowledge of fish biology, there is no logical reason why this widely-held belief should not be extended to include fish.
It has been convenient for anglers that fish have been considered in the past not to feel pain. The Medway report noted that the methods used in angling "if performed in a laboratory on unanaesthetised fish, without license, would very probably be in contravention of the (l876 cruelty to animals) act.." Incredible for an act created by vivisectors, not renowned for their compassion for living creatures!
An RSPCA report from 1990 stated that during just one week in 1990, an inspector had to assist 14 swans tangled in tackle. Freddie the dolphin, who lived for a long time near Amble in Northumberland, was wounded by fishing tackle at least four times. Entangled animals attract considerable publicity and are frequently reported in the local press but most incidents will go unreported, due to lack of witnesses.
Anglers maintain that only a minority of their number deliberately discard tackle. This may be true, but most tackle in the environment is of the "lost" variety. Hooks are snagged on bankside vegetation, underwater obstructions and sea beds-often resulting in snapped lines. The only way to prevent injuries and fatalities due to lost and discarded fishing tackle, is to ban angling.
Fish and tackle victims are not the only creatures suffering at the hands of anglers. Any fish eating species which is thought to compete with angling interests is at risk. Seals, herons, otters and wildfowl are killed by fish farmers, who breed primarily trout and salmon for re-stocking fisheries and of course for the meat eating public. As many as 5,000 seals a year are already killed by fishery interests and there is pressure for widespread organised "culling" to be re-instated in Scotland. Mink, in addition to being hunted, are increasingly being killed by angling bodies and have been branded with as bad a reputation as the poor fox had 20 years ago. This year has seen a new victim - the cormorant, a sea bird, which is reportedly moving inland after being starved out of its natural habitat by overfishing. No creature is safe in the name of profit and the pleasure of dragging fish from the water.
Lastly, litter must not be forgotten as a huge problem associated with angling. Bait tins, beer cans and plastic ring pulls are amongst the piles of anglers' trash, disfiguring the bankside and inviting further wildlife damage. Many clubs have been banned from angling venues due to the persistent menace of litter. As if this isn't enough, banks are left as mudslides, with vegetation hacked down to facilitate access to the water.