Comment section of the Globe and Mail

[kickingfrog]

I hesitated to post this, mainly because I feared it would go down hill faster than "which outboard motor is better".

 

In the end I decided to post it, but comment on it as well (something else I usually don't do because I feel people should make their own decisions on articles).

 

 

Some valid points are made, some aren't, but I fear it can be a slippery slope.

 

Key points:

The main issue brought up is commercial fishing, not recreational angling, but similar arguments can/ have been made about recreational angling.

It is not suggested that commercial fishing should be stopped, but the methods and post catch handing should be changed/ modified.

 

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/free-fish-from-their-pain-and-suffering/article1705707/

Edited September 14, 2010 by kickingfrog

[Terry]

this is the same old P3TA loving tree hugging type of news that is little more then propaganda

[Dave Bailey]

Do fish feel pain? Well they certainly feel something, otherwise they wouldn't react. If they didn't react and attempt to escape evolution would eventually weed them out, as would happen to any animal that had no survival instinct. But is it pain in the same sense that we feel? Uncertain, but even if it is there is one thing that we can be sure of - they do not feel the emotional anguish that we feel. Their brains are simply not capable of thought, self-awareness, or emotion. We fear pain as a sign that something is wrong, possibly fatal, and we only understand the meaning of 'fatal' because we are capable of complex communication. We have learned and taught each other, since our ancestors first learned to speak, that death is something from which we do not return (with the exception of certain religious beliefs). Such knowledge reinforces the fear of pain that we feel. Fish can never feel that emotional component, they are strictly reactive.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

i kill my fish right away but that's because i find they TASTE better if i dispatch them quickly and put them straight on ice...

 

if this guy thinks the way we handle fish is "inhumane", he should check out the supposedly "regulated" factory farming he claims is so humane. given the choice between a life in the wild with an abrupt ending or living my existence in a massive chicken coop or beef farm, i'd choose to be a fish any day.

[cram]

I wouldn't say its P3TA'ish propoganda. The guy is not saying that we shouldn't kill and eat fish....just that we should do it in way that -- from his perspective - is more humane.

 

I'm not smart enough to know all the differences btwn them and say, us, in terms of brain and neuroligical structure.....but i do know that it is substantially different, and their "experience" on a hook is certainly less cruel than the average reader may think when they read that article.

 

But, he may not know that.

[BITEME]

I have live footage from the east coast about draggers that would make your skin crawl in terms of waste and whatevr

[mercman]

I tend to agree with Dave Bailey. There is no doubt in my mind that fish feel pain. To what degree is unknown. I doubt very much that it has flash backs of its childhood or regrets of things unaccomplished.

Either way we look at it, we, and i mean anyone who fishes whether it be an angler, or a comercial fishing fleet, should dispatch the fish as quickly as possible. I have no doubt that everyone on this board does just that, but i have witnessed people hacking live perch into pieces to use as bait for catfish.

 

 

[Terry]

impale

flapping helplessly

struggling fish hooked

 

these are words to make you feel sorry for the fish they are to get people emotional ..it's not reporting facts...it's twisting a story to give it a P3TA feel

 

they don't feel pain the same way a dog does

 

they do not feel fear......the struggling when hooked is a natural instinct to flee when attacked ...

this has been proven in studies

 

they hook a fish and yes it tries to get away

 

you leave the hook in the fish and put it in a live well and almost instantly calms down and is not bothered by the hook

 

 

sure it's not a perfect world we live in, but I kill them as fast as I can and the circle of life goes on

[Guest gbfisher]

Feel pain..

 

If fish felt pain they'd stop eating spinney prickly little fishy's for good.

 

Funny how ya don't see dead and starving fish all over the place.

 

 

 

Kickfrog...so how come you felt wrong about posting such dribble and went ahead with it anyways...?

[kickingfrog]

Kickfrog...so how come you felt wrong about posting such dribble and went ahead with it anyways...?

 

I posted it because it is important to be aware of what people who oppose what you do are: saying, thinking and doing. Even though recreational angling was not the focus of the article, that whole keep your friends close, and your enemies closer is not without merit.

 

My concern was that we would end up arguing amongst ourselves.