What Anti-fishing Groups believe

[BassTracker]

Hi Guys,

After reading some of the posts by people like Tugger and others I decided I’d have a look at what these anti fishing groups really believe and why they are so passionate about lobbying government to stop us doing what we love to do..

What I found is pretty surprising. A couple of common threads though: 1) The people who join these anti-fishing groups are people who would not do well outside of a common cause where numbers are everything.. they are pretty anti-social and I think Id rather have 50 used car / amway / Jehovas witness salesmen over for the weekend before Id hang out with this Mob.

2) They have very flawed science and use scare techniques to get people onside.

I will post links to their web pages at the end and I will also post an “Anti Anti-fishing website as well)

What we need to keep in mind is that these guys have the ear of our government, it is one of the reasons that Marine Parks like the one here in Moreton Bay can go ahead with little consultation and why even when accredited independent research is presented and alternative means to protect fish stock is offered its not taken even when the plan would produce over 100% better results. (this is because these guys dont want to protect fish stocks as much as they want to completely stop fishing altogether. This comes from their fundaMENTAL belief that fishing is animal cruelty)

We need to be aware that simple scare tactics and fluff journalism is actually very very effective and is what they use to get their point across.

Here we go:

This is from http://www.nofishing.net/

From the bass desperately trying to escape the pain of the hook as he is reeled in, to the pollock tumbling endlessly in a trawler's net, to the tuna struggling for hours with a hook in her throat attached to miles of line with thousand of hooks, billions of fish suffer at our hands every year. But things are looking up for fish as more and more people are choosing alternatives to fishing and eating fish. Hiking, wildlife watching, and a vegetarian diet are among the many choices that are better for us, the animals, and the environment.

Fishing Hurts

"The pain system in fish is virtually the same as in birds and mammals."

---Dr. Donald Broom, professor of animal welfare, Cambridge University

While fish cannot always express pain and suffering in ways that humans can easily recognize, common sense (as well as marine biologists) tells us that fish feel pain. Fish may not be cute and cuddly like puppies and kittens, but they suffer and experience pain in very much the same way.

Fish suffer from being impaled, thrown, crushed, or mutilated while alive, and they are often left to die slowly and painfully of suffocation.

If you Wouldn't Do This to a Dog, Why do it to a Fish?

No one would consider doing to a dog what some so casually do to fish-trick them into impaling themselves in the mouth and pulling them into an environment where they can't breathe. But fact is-fish feel pain just as all animals do.

Eating Fish is Dangerous

Like the flesh of other animals, fish flesh contains excessive amounts of protein, fat, and cholesterol.

Fish (and shellfish) can accumulate extremely high levels of toxins (as much as 9 million times that of the water in which they live) such as PCB's, dioxins, mercury, lead, and arsenic, which can cause health problems ranging from kidney damage and impaired mental development to cancer and even death. Fish oil capsules may also contain harmful contaminants. Omega-3, thought to be helpful in fighting heart disease, can be found in flax and linseed oils and leafy, green vegetables.

And check out their range of stickers and pamphlets!! (oh man these guys have some big issues)
/>http://www.nofishing.net/stick.html

And this is in their “WHAT YOU CAN DO†section

Be a Pro-Fish Activist

Start planning your own pro-fish campaign to help stop the suffering of fish and other aquatic animals.

1) Organize a demonstration.

Choose a location--check your local paper for fishing tournaments and events (particularly kids' events) or find a fishing location, such as a pier or a bait-and-tackle shop on a well-travelled road. Contact PETA for stickers, leaflets, and posters. Use our "Guide to Becoming an Activist."

2) Start a campaign to ban fishing at a local lake or pond.

Find out who has the authority to institute such a ban, then write a respectful letter explaining your request. Send a copy of the letter to local press with a cover letter explaining that you thought they might be interested in doing a story. Follow up with a demonstration.

3) Ask the Boy Scouts to Retire Their Fishing Merit Badge

By offering a "fishing" merit badge, the Boy Scouts of America teach boys that hooking, suffocating, and killing animals is acceptable.

Fishing is inconsistent with the Scout Law, which states, "A Scout understands there is strength in being gentle. He treats others as he wants to be treated. He does not hurt or kill harmless things without reason."

Fishing is cruel, and kids should be taught to enjoy the outdoors in nonviolent ways. Please ask Boy Scouts to encourage kids to enjoy the outdoors in nonviolent ways and retire their fishing merit badge. Call or write:

Terry C. Lawson

Director of Advancement

Boy Scouts of America

P.O. Box 152079

Irving, TX 75015-2079

Tel.: 972-580-2000

Fax: 972-580-2079

For more information on the Boy Scouts/Fishing campaign, click here.

4) Use PETA's "Fishing Hurts" stickers in highly visible places.

Let us know how many you need, and we'll send them right away.

And in this link these guys really generalize about what “Many†sports fisherman are like!
/>http://www.nofishing.net/net2.html

THIS IS FROM THE PETA WEBSITE, I KNOW THAT WE KNOW THEY ARE NUTCASES BUT HAVE A READ ANYWAY. THERE IS SOME REPETE STUFF HERE AS THE FIRST GUYS PROBABLY PARTNER WITH THEM..
/>HTTP://WWW.PETA.ORG/ISSUES/ANIMALS-IN-ENTERTAINMENT/FISHING.ASPX

FISHING

Billions of fish die every year in nets and on hooks. Some are destined for human consumption, many are tortured just for "sport," and others are unintended victims who are maimed or killed simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

FISH FEEL PAIN

When fish are yanked from the water, they begin to suffocate. Their gills often collapse, and their swim bladders can rupture because of the sudden change in pressure. Numerous scientific reports from around the world confirm that fish feel pain. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow studied the pain receptors in fish and found that they were strikingly similar to those of mammals; the researchers concluded that "fish do have the capacity for pain perception and suffering."

'SPORT' FISHING

While the numbers continue to decline compared to decades ago, more than 29 million people still went fishing in 2006, spending billions of dollars on their "hobby." According to a Florida State University study, sport fishers are responsible for killing almost 25 percent of over fished saltwater species. Many trout streams are so intensively fished that they require that all fish caught be released; the fish in these streams may spend their entire lives being repeatedly traumatized and injured.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH CATCH-AND-RELEASE FISHING?

Fish who are released after being caught can suffer from loss of their protective scale coating that makes them vunerable to disease, a dangerous build-up of lactic acid in their muscles, oxygen depletion, and damage to their delicate fins and mouths. According to one fishery expert, catch-and-release victims "could be vulnerable to predators, unable to swim away, or if nesting, not capable of fending off nest raiders. Some guarding males could in fact abandon the nest." Researchers at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation found that as many as 43 percent of fish released after being caught died within six days.

OTHER VICTIMS

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "[M]ore than one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year due to ingestion of, and entanglement in marine debris." The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that discarded monofilament fishing line is the number one killer of adult brown pelicans, although one Audubon biologist says that "[p]retty much every type of water or shore bird can get caught up in fishing line …. We find dead cormorants, anhingas, herons, egrets, roseate spoonbills … you name it."

One out of every five manatee rescues conducted in the 1980s and 1990s was related to fishing-line entanglement, and during a four-year span, at least 35 dolphins died from injuries that they sustained as a result of being tangled in fishing line.

EATING FISH IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH

Like other animals' flesh, the flesh of sea animals contains high amounts of fat and cholesterol. "Seafood" is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the U.S., and almost 7 million Americans are believed to be allergic to it.

Fish flesh (including shellfish) can accumulate extremely high levels of carcinogenic chemical residues, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The flesh of farmed salmon has seven times more PCBs than the flesh of wild-caught salmon.

According to The New England Journal of Medicine, fish "are the main if not the only source of methyl mercury," a substance that has been linked to cardiovascular disease, fetal brain damage, blindness, deafness, and problems with motor skills, language, and attention span. The Environmental Protection Agency and the FDA warn women of child-bearing age and children to refrain from eating fish such as shark, swordfish, and king mackerel and to consume fewer than 12 ounces a week of other fish flesh because of mercury levels. Of course, the best way to avoid the dangers of mercury is to not eat fish at all.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• To combat fishing in your area, post "No Fishing" signs on your land if you have a pond or a lake, join or form an anti-fishing organization, and protest fishing tournaments. Encourage your legislators to enact or enforce wildlife-protection laws.

• Before you support a "wildlife" or "conservation" group, ask about its position on fishing. Groups such as the National Wildlife Federation, the National Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, the Izaak Walton League, the Wilderness Society, the World Wildlife Fund, and many others either support or do not oppose sport fishing.

Heres what they say about animals used for meat.

/>http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/default2.aspx

Beware of these guys, by gradual degrees they get what they want.

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_EatKYf9u4

THIS IS REALLY GOOD!!

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JQ5LY16Zkw

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPYUd_9H2AQ

Heres some classic PETA

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvTzjZsuKvg&feature=related

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijlybblwzNk

One for Kurt haha

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRblcpQdwA8

OK and finally PETAs attempt to get your kids on board

/>http://features.peta.org/PETASeaKittens/

[BassTracker]

Id love to see what other guys have found. I know thats just the blatant stuff there is plenty more that these guys publish..

Cheers for reading

Brad

[ellicat]

Not just scum, but dumb scum !

I'll move this to the Environment section to sit alongside a lot of other info that has been discussed over the years.

[Gad]

Not just scum, but dumb scum !

I'll move this to the Environment section to sit alongside a lot of other info that has been discussed over the years.

Personally I would have moved it to the Humour section.lol

[BassTracker]

Yep thats where I was thinking of putting it too Gad, and thanks ellicat

[Greenmachine]

I wonder what these people are eating for dinner tonight?

Surely they wouldnt think of torturing a living carrot or lettuce living happily in the garden or a helpless tomato from its plant tied to a stake that cant even escape :whistle:

[Gary_C]

Mate,

I am going to order a load of those stickers!

Going to put them on my tackle box, my rod cases, just about every piece of fishing gear where they will fit.

They will act as my lures to catch nut jobs. I will only practice catch and release but will tag them so they can be identified if caught by somebody else.

[BassTracker]

Mate,

I am going to order a load of those stickers!

Going to put them on my tackle box, my rod cases, just about every piece of fishing gear where they will fit.

They will act as my lures to catch nut jobs. I will only practice catch and release but will tag them so they can be identified if caught by somebody else.

HAHA Perfect!! I will keep my eye out for the tagged ones

[Hartsford]

And what's next for these nutters propose banning of the Brodcasting of Fishing shows on TV.

Extreme Fishing with Robson Green ( One), I-Fish with Tackleworld (One and Ten),Fishing with ET,( Ten) Adventure Bound and River Reef.. Briz 31 Digital)

Most of these shows also practice Catch and Release and only taking what you need plus Cooking and Fishing tips from all of your Australian Locations

I personally have fished since I was nine years old and initially taught by the best in the field at that point in time.. I have Practiced Catch and release before there was a bag limit on fish.. ( In South Australia) but always made sure that the minimum size was observed...most of the time.. and the catching and retaining of pest species both Saltwater and Freshwater...FISH ON..

[dhess]

Hey Basstracker go easy on the religous slurs OK? For your info I am a JW. :evil: W

And leave my seakittens alone.

[qbkami]

Thanks heaps Bass Tracker all the videos were very good esp the radio station ones

thanks for sharing

[kmcrosby78]

Settle down fella's they clearly have our best interests at heart - how very noble of them to be concerned about us getting poisoned by eating fish ............................................ What a bunch of jokers!!

[BassTracker]

Haha sorry dhess, I'll remember that you won't be at the black marlin social on the Sunday!! You'll be doing the JW SHUFFLE and you guys are right, I'm glad I know I've been poisoning myself now. Lucky cause I'm going to use little seakittens as live bait for bigger seakittens this arvo I might have been tempted to eat them. I'll be targeting whiskered ones today too , the threadfin seakitten is on the menu today, if my boat makes it through the toxic sludge and rubbish from sports fisherman haha

[Guest]

WHAT A JOKEE!!!!
/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvTzjZsuKvg&feature=player_embedded

[Clevo_31]

The stupidity of people never ceases to amaze me.

Seriously, have they not watched animal planet? Maby we should start imposing laws on crocs telling them they cant eat roos that venture too close to the water. Better yet, get this lot to personally go tell the crocs!

I really dont get the whole vegetarian/lets feel sorry for the animals stuff that this lot go on about. I wasnt born at the top of the food chain to eat mud.

Good post there mate some really informative stuff. I would happily pay for a fishing license if I knew it was going to be used to enhance the past time. But I know it would all sit on some politicians driveway as a new Merc.

Jordan

[dhess]

Haha sorry dhess, I'll remember that you won't be at the black marlin social on the Sunday!! You'll be doing the JW SHUFFLE and you guys are right, I'm glad I know I've been poisoning myself now. Lucky cause I'm going to use little seakittens as live bait for bigger seakittens this arvo I might have been tempted to eat them. I'll be targeting whiskered ones today too , the threadfin seakitten is on the menu today, if my boat makes it through the toxic sludge and rubbish from sports fisherman haha

LMAO

[Gary_C]

Mate,

I am going to order a load of those stickers!

Going to put them on my tackle box, my rod cases, just about every piece of fishing gear where they will fit.

They will act as my lures to catch nut jobs. I will only practice catch and release but will tag them so they can be identified if caught by somebody else.

HAHA Perfect!! I will keep my eye out for the tagged ones

I tried to order some stickers, but the blockheads require a donation, not a chance! Luckily one of them has printable sticker images, so next time I go pick up office supplies I will see if they have sticker paper.

If it works out I will have plenty on hand for the gathering over Xmas!