Kill Those Fish

[gone_fishin]

This was a write up in the Toronto Sun today... written by John Kerr. (i couldn't find the article on the web, so i'm typing it out)

 

Switzerland's Federal Parliament will follow Germany by baning catch and release angling in 2009, the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association says.

 

While the Swiss legislation doesn't specifically mention catch and release fishing, it does make angling with "intent" to release a fish illegal, EFTTA points out in a press release. Next year, anglers will have to kill immediately every caught fish by bashing it over the head with a blunt instrument.

 

Swiss anglers will have to take a course on humane methods of catching fish (barbed hooks and live bait will also be banned) before being granted a fishing licence.

 

Rightfully so, EFTTA acting president Pierangelo Zanetta points out the new law will reduce fish populations and discourage anglers from fishing.

 

"EFTTA does not believe that forcing anglers to kill their catches is either good for nature or for recreational sport fishing, which makes a significant financial contribution to the EU economy (275,000 anglers collectively spend about 30 million Euros in annual tackle sales in Switzerland)," Zanetta said.

 

The pending Swiss fishing rules are part of a wider animal-protection law passed in 2005, with angling details just surfacing.

 

***

 

The rest of the article talks about our laws, and more specifically about Bill S-203... if you want to read the rest, go get the paper... May 15th, 2008 Toronto Sun- Sports section page S16.

Edited May 15, 2008 by gone_fishin

[BITEME]

so all those big european pike will now be slaughtered

[Spiel]

SWISS GOVERNMENT TO BAN ‘CATCH AND RELEASE’ FISHING

[Greencoachdog]

Sounds pretty ignorant to me.

[ccmtcanada]

The only thing I could think of is this....you have to keep your fish right? That means if the limits were really low....say 1 or 2 per outing, you'd have to stop fishing once you had your limit. If mortality numbers of catch and release is pretty high, then in the long run are you not saving more fish if a normal outing is 4 or 5 fish?

 

Anyhow, might just be me hallucinating, but that thought crossed my mind....LOL.

Edited May 16, 2008 by ccmt

[oncogene]

So they're going to ban barbed hook..... just me thinking out loud.... in stead of CATCH and release which is getting banned... I'd just let the fish swim around in the water til it "accidentally" loosens itself from the un-barbed hook so I don't actually finish "catching" the fish .... "oh damn I lost it.. oops".

[holdfast]

OH, Oh, we're next

[shane]

so all those big european pike will now be slaughtered

 

 

And what about those big monster carp?

[forrest]

The only thing I could think of is this....you have to keep your fish right? That means if the limits were really low....say 1 or 2 per outing, you'd have to stop fishing once you had your limit. If mortality numbers of catch and release is pretty high, then in the long run are you not saving more fish if a normal outing is 4 or 5 fish?

 

Anyhow, might just be me hallucinating, but that thought crossed my mind....LOL.

 

 

Thats the first thing that crossed my mind too. I guess all the fish that are caught over there are either good to eat or they figure people are killing more than their limit each day with catch and release.

 

What to do with a dirty fish that you catch...throw it in the bin?

 

forrest

[Rich]

That's just stupid.

[POLLIWOGG]

C+R was illegal here till the introduction of licensing in what , the 80's.

[mattyk]

very stupid law!

[ehg]

they figure people are killing more than their limit each day with catch and release

 

forrest

 

Seems like that is the idea.

 

Pushing through legislation based on twisted logic is scary.

Main intention is to control and ruin peoples fun and freedom.

 

I've done the single barbless hook fishing, more than half the fish shook off during battle anyways.

 

 

ehg

[lunkerbasshunter]

ok what a bunch of morons

[007]

That does seem like a strange law.

 

Fortunately such legislation hasn't happened here in England..... yet, but as we're part of the European Union you never know what rules another member state will try to get passed for all of Europe. I can't realistically see it happening here as there are just too many anglers and 95% of the fishing here in the UK is purely catch and release (trout and salmon apart).

 

That said, fishing here certainly has a lot of rules....I went to my new fishing tackle shop today and was informed of all the new rules that different private fisheries (the majority of places to fish as there are few public fishing locations). Many of these fisheries ban the use of things like lures, braided line, lead weights, barbed hooks etc. I suppose they are protecting the health and condition of the fish stocks and increasing their chance of survival, so I can't grumble too much as they are protecting their fish for others to catch.

 

Unfortunately the need to protect their stock is increasing as fishermen moving to the UK from other European countries that don't typically practice catch and release and are emptying lakes and rivers of fish but that's another issue.......

 

007

Edited May 17, 2008 by OO7