life imitates art

Charlie Choc wrote:
On Thu, 3 Aug 2006 15:45:56 -0400, "Opie" wrote:


wrote in message
roups.com...

Will do:

The letter is below.

TBone

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Hi John,

My name is Tim Walker and I am an avid angler from Colorado that has
been blessed with over 40 years of active flyfishing in this beautiful
state. A recent discussion came up regarding the biological imperative
of pure catch and release fishing regulations versus establishing the
practical equivalence through critical slots and reduced bags, or catch
kill and quit. For example, on a day with exceptional conditions, an
angler that has released 20-30 wild trout has probably inflicted
mortaility on 1-3 of these fish as well as occupying a place on the
stream and crushing forage biota through wading. Further, a slot limit
set very high, such as 2 fish over 16 inches on these streams, would be
the 'practical' equivalent but which allows for some harvest, an
extremely important concept when considering the ethics of sport
fishing in general.

If you consider the report from the Norwegian Fisheries Council you can
see the result of a comprehensive study of the ethics of 'pure,
unlimited catch and release'.

http://org.umb.no/etikkutvalget/English/catch.htm

Which includes this summary:

A form of angling where fish, once caught, are then released, known as
"catch and release", is prevalent in a number of countries. The
authorities are now considering whether the concept should be
introduced as a way of limiting catches in some Norwegian rivers. The
"catch and release" concept is a new principle in natural resource
management compared with the catch regulation measures adopted
previously. "Catch and release" completely separates fishing from its
original purpose, which was to procure food. In the view of the
Council, it is important to support and develop attitudes that
safeguard natural resources and manage them in a sustainable manner.
This also entails a respect for life. There is little doubt that fish
experience pain and stress in connection with fishing, regardless of
whether they are killed or released. The difference is that a fish that
is caught and released is subjected to this stress merely to satisfy
people's need for recreation. The suffering and damage inflicted on the
fish in this connection is disregarded. The Council does not find it
ethically acceptable to use live animals in this way. If the fishing
stock is so low that it will not tolerate harvesting the alternative in
the view of the Council is not to fish. Against this background, the
Council advises against the introduction of "catch and release" as a
resource management measure in Norway.

My question then is, given that there is no 'biological' or 'fisheries
management' 'imperatives' to pure catch and release fishing coupled
with the fact that any fishery which can not stand the random mortality
incident to these activities should be closed to fishing, and given
that the distinction of 'pure catch and release fishing' is akin to
'wildlife harassment for pleasure alone', which is a clear target of
folkes with anti-fishing agendas, why would North Carolina opt to
impose these regulations?

Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply.

Sincerely,

Tim Walker

The guy in NC that gets your email is gonna say, "Another ****in' PETA
letter boss!"

Op

The guy in NC might already know that Norwegian report was pretty much ignored
by everyone in the universe except Tim and PETA, and that C&R isn't banned in
Norway. In fact, according to
http://www.acuteangling.com/Reference/C&RObserve.html it is actually practiced
there and has been for some time.
--
Charlie...
http://www.chocphoto.com

Hi Choc,

Funny that this uses the UK (Fox hunting) and Lee (A Game fish is too
valuable to be caught only once) Wullf. Fox hunting is pretty much
banned along with cock and pit bull fighting and Lee's comment is at
the heart of what is wrong with this as an ethic. The fact is, if you
google "the ethics of catch and release fishing" you will find 99 to 1
people that claim that it is "the new ethic". I respectfully have to
disagree and will remain, I guess, in the minority. The new ethic is
defined by greed and not common sense in my opinion. Amazing that catch
and release is lauded as a success for management, but ignoring the
essence of the experience to the extent that the author wouldn't give a
rip if he was fishing in a hatchery or one of those ponds in texas that
are built just for catch and release fishing. These ethics exist for
the SOLE purpose of increasing the recruitment to the sport and in
shamming the new angler in to thinking that what they are getting
astream is quality fishing to wild trout when, in fact, they are
catching fish conditioned to humans while standing elbow to elbow with
them.

Regarding the scholarly study of this from a pure ethics standpoint one
would be very hard pressed to beat RalphH's post and discussion from:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.o...e6774d e0f435

TBone
A cash flow runs through it.