Is fishing mean?

Altfish · Oct 17, 2021

Spiderman said:
Biting onto something yummy and getting a hook in your mouth must be frightening and trying to swim away and getting reeled in must be painful.

Then wind up in someone's hands must suck!

For the poll question, just choose what you most lean towards.

Firstly, I am an angler, although I don't partake as regularly these days. I'd like to tell you a story...

I worked in Manchester in an office that included a, let's say very green activist, he was very anti-blood sports including angling.
Anyway, one day a canal basin in the city centre had suffered some sort of lock failure and the basin was fast emptying and the fish were in distress. I spotted this and spent the next 60 minutes on the phone to The Environment Agency and The Canal Trust trying to get it sorted and the fish saved. The lad realised in that moment that anglers care for the environment and care for their 'prey' more that 90% of the population who ignored it.

It is anglers who report something like 80% of pollution incidents in the UK

Secret Chief · Oct 17, 2021

Altfish said:
It is anglers who report something like 80% of pollution incidents in the UK

Anglers are presumably more likely to be aware of pollution incidents than the general population and it is clearly in their interest, as anglers, to have pollution incidents reported and dealt with.

Kooky · Oct 17, 2021

PureX said:
Being forced to destroy life to maintain life is "mean", I suppose. But this is the universe we live in. And if we want to keep living in it, we have to live by it's demands. That being said, there is no reason to add to the suffering unnecessarily. Which is why a lot of folks don't eat meat or fish.

Nobody's forced to fish in order to survive in this society, where food is generally abundant and trivial to locate.

We Never Know said:
No meaner than a cheetah taking down an antelope. We are predators and just like many species we hunt for food. We just have better ways of doing it.

The majority of humans has never hunted for food in their entire lives.

Dan From Smithville · Oct 17, 2021

Spiderman said:
Biting onto something yummy and getting a hook in your mouth must be frightening and trying to swim away and getting reeled in must be painful.

Then wind up in someone's hands must suck!

For the poll question, just choose what you most lean towards.

Is it mean for a mantis to look like a flower in order to catch live insects for food that it will eat while the food is still alive?

Is it mean to carrots to yank them from the ground, wash them an consume them raw?

I am curious why we draw a line between plants and animals. As if plants are somehow OK with being eaten, alive, raw, cooked or processed in some other way.

Unless the intent is to cause pain and suffering, I do not see it as mean. This does not mean that there is no pain, suffering or death.

When the flesh-eating aliens pretend to be a leggy, blonde supermodel to lure me close so that they can eviscerate me for dinner, I don't think I will be happy about it. But it may not be an act of malice, despite the cruelty of the experience.

Subduction Zone · Oct 17, 2021

Altfish said:
Firstly, I am an angler, although I don't partake as regularly these days. I'd like to tell you a story...

I worked in Manchester in an office that included a, let's say very green activist, he was very anti-blood sports including angling.
Anyway, one day a canal basin in the city centre had suffered some sort of lock failure and the basin was fast emptying and the fish were in distress. I spotted this and spent the next 60 minutes on the phone to The Environment Agency and The Canal Trust trying to get it sorted and the fish saved. The lad realised in that moment that anglers care for the environment and care for their 'prey' more that 90% of the population who ignored it.

It is anglers who report something like 80% of pollution incidents in the UK

There are similar cases of duck hunters preserving duck habitat in the US. Duck hunters may have saved various duck species. You cannot go hunting if all of the ducks are dead.

We Never Know · Oct 17, 2021

Kooky said:
Nobody's forced to fish in order to survive in this society, where food is generally abundant and trivial to locate.

The majority of humans has never hunted for food in their entire lives.

People like this person??

The quote that was made almost famous

"To all you hunters who kill animals for food, shame on you; you ought to go to the store and buy the meat that was made there, where no animals were harmed."

About That "To All You Hunters" Newspaper Clipping - wafflesatnoon.com

Dan From Smithville · Oct 17, 2021

Kooky said:
Nobody's forced to fish in order to survive in this society, where food is generally abundant and trivial to locate.

The majority of humans has never hunted for food in their entire lives.

It is surprising how little most people know where the food they eat comes from or even what is in it.

Vinayaka · Oct 17, 2021

Spiderman said:
I have smelled fish before when there were no fish nearby.

That's sounds fishy. You sure?

Vinayaka · Oct 17, 2021

Dan From Smithville said:
It is surprising how little most people know where the food they eat comes from or even what is in it.

On my childhood farm we milked. It was not homogenized obviously, and our town cousins wouldn't drink it. Things got worse when Mom showed them where it came from.

Agricultural disconnect is totally rampant. Country of origin is another aspect.

Dan From Smithville · Oct 17, 2021

Vinayaka said:
On my childhood farm we milked. It was not homogenized obviously, and our town cousins wouldn't drink it. Things got worse when Mom showed them where it came from.

Agricultural disconnect is totally rampant. Country of origin is another aspect.

Coming from a rural part of the US, I wasn't even aware the blind spot existed until getting involved with agriculture professionally.

I recall a survey that asked if people would reject food if they found out there was DNA in it. A significant number of respondents said they would reject food with DNA in it.

PureX · Oct 18, 2021

Kooky said:
Nobody's forced to fish in order to survive in this society, where food is generally abundant and trivial to locate.

Well, someone had to fish them out of the sea for us to eat.

Kooky said:
The majority of humans has never hunted for food in their entire lives.

It could be argued that hunting is the lesser evil compared to the way most of us get our meat.

Vinayaka · Oct 18, 2021

Dan From Smithville said:
Coming from a rural part of the US, I wasn't even aware the blind spot existed until getting involved with agriculture professionally.

I recall a survey that asked if people would reject food if they found out there was DNA in it. A significant number of respondents said they would reject food with DNA in it.

I was a farm boy. I find the entire thing interesting. Another disconnect is with rain. Not so much where they get lots of it, but in semi-arid regions, when the golfers complain about it, my eyes roll.

amorphous_constellation · Oct 18, 2021

I think netting but be more humane, but that's not really as legal, if I'm not mistaken. I've heard that hooks dissolve if they get stuck in fish, at least. I was taken fishing as a kid a lot

You know that the origin of animal sacrifice was to gratefully give a piece of the animal you hunted to its spirit, and I'm pretty sure it is a solemn thing most of the time

That may help make it better, on the burden on both you and the animal

Sand Dancer · Oct 18, 2021

Spiderman said:
Biting onto something yummy and getting a hook in your mouth must be frightening and trying to swim away and getting reeled in must be painful.

Then wind up in someone's hands must suck!

For the poll question, just choose what you most lean towards.

Plus taking them out of their element is like throwing us into the water for a while. They die from lack of water going through their gills. How horrible.

Kooky · Oct 18, 2021

PureX said:
Well, someone had to fish them out of the sea for us to eat.

Unless you're living in a desolate region far away from civilization where fish is your only reliable source of protein, you don't need to eat fish; in all likelihood, you are eating fish due to upbringing, religious conviction, habit, or a myriad other reasons completely disconnected from any biological need.

The actual number of people who need to eat fish because they can literally get nothing else is miniscule and vastly dwarved by the number of people who do so out of reasons other than survival.

It could be argued that hunting is the lesser evil compared to the way most of us get our meat.

I'm sure we could argue over unverifiable claims until the cows come home, but I fail to see how your ability to argue has anything to do with the verifiable facticity of that statement.

Kooky · Oct 18, 2021

You know who in our society hunts animals for food? Rich ponces like Mark Zuckerberg, who are so alienated from normal human life that they need to feel the thrill of having killed a living creature to feel any pleasure at all while eating.

We Never Know · Oct 18, 2021

Kooky said:
You know who in our society hunts animals for food? Rich ponces like Mark Zuckerberg, who are so alienated from normal human life that they need to feel the thrill of having killed a living creature to feel any pleasure at all while eating.

The rich hunt for sport, not survival, or food.

Kooky · Oct 18, 2021

We Never Know said:
The rich hunt for sport, not survival, or food.

Like most of the people who fish or hunt in their spare time (rather than as a job).

We Never Know · Oct 18, 2021

Kooky said:
Like most of the people who fish or hunt in their spare time (rather than as a job).

Why do you seem to find it hard to believe that people who live in the country hunt food a lot. Deer rabbit, squirrel, turkey, etc. most are killed for the meat. There are some who just only want the big buck but not many.

PureX · Oct 18, 2021

Kooky said:
I'm sure we could argue over unverifiable claims until the cows come home, but I fail to see how your ability to argue has anything to do with the verifiable facticity of that statement.

The argument would be that we cause far less suffering to the animals we eat by hunting them, ourselves, than by raising them to be eaten.

Is fishing mean?

Fishing with a hook is mean?

Yes

No

Veteran Member

Stiff Member

Freedom from Sanity

Recently discovered my planet of origin.

Veteran Member

No Slack

Recently discovered my planet of origin.

devotee

devotee

Recently discovered my planet of origin.

Veteran Member

devotee

Well-Known Member

Crazy Cat Lady

Freedom from Sanity

Freedom from Sanity

No Slack

Freedom from Sanity

No Slack

Veteran Member