Fishing, hunting and the anti - part two

I know that the anti will point to the behaviour of some humans as being worse than animals. One can’t argue with that, of course. What sort of person plants bombs underneath meat industry workers’ cars, or attacks laboratory employees, or sends parcel bombs to pet shop owners…I could go on.

Still, the point I am trying to make is to highlight the difference between animals and humans, not to discuss the depravity of mankind. The humanisation of creatures is one of the by-products of the secularisation of our society. (But I will come on to that in more detail in a future article in the series).

But just who is the anti, what makes him or her tick? I’ve recently been checking out a number of their web sites to glean some information. I do not exaggerate the point if I say we are up against a bunch of fanatical extremists. The words ‘reason’, ‘compromise’ and ‘discussion’ do not enter their vocabulary. To them, we as anglers are no more than a bunch of sadistic and cruel torturers, who get our pleasure from impaling poor little innocent fish on sharp hooks.

Which is why any attempt on our part, in relation to the anti to self-regulate is really a non-starter (Not that I’m saying that self-regulation is a bad move, it just depends on our motive for doing so). To take, as some anglers do, the route of banning livebaits, saying keepnets are cruel and so on so that we can placate will not score any Brownie points with these people. They want angling banned. Period. Let’s be careful, as fishermen, that we don’t actually ‘shoot ourselves in the foot’. The Bible has a saying - ‘A house divided against itself will fall.’

I certainly don’t feel pessimistic however, about the future of angling. But we need to wake up, and wake up fast. Every one of us needs to recognise that we are indeed ambassadors for the sport. If we all play our part, however small, the common good will benefit. How can we do that?

Just one example - next time you’re out fishing in a public area, remember a smile directed towards a passer-by doesn’t cost anything. They’ll leave you thinking ‘he’s a nice guy’. That will leave a positive impression of angling with them. A grumpy angler who has an invisible sign over his head saying ‘Leave me alone and go away’ actually does no good whatsoever for the image of fishing.

We also all have contacts that we can affect in a positive way. In the office I occupied a few years ago I had a number of A4 size big fish photos on the wall, as well as numerous small ones on the notice board behind my desk. It certainly created conversation. I was able to deal with misinformed people who asked questions such as, ‘That’s a big fish, how long did it take to die?’.

That was in reference to a photo I had of a 20lb pike. I was able to tell the person that the fish went back in unharmed after being weighed and photographed. This surprised him, but it opened the door to talk about the role of angling in conservation. Now, whenever I see that person he asks me the question, ‘Caught anything lately?’

Now, we may never covert our contacts to actually become fishermen, but if we can get in there before the poison of the anti does, it’s a case of mission accomplished. Although we live in changing times there’s no reason why angling should be seen as a relic of the past, a monument of man’s cruelty, which is the vision of the anti.

But we all need to play our part and promote fishing as a modern, conservation-minded and environmentally friendly pastime. The truth is that we need to win the general public over. The anti will never be changed, but if we can promote a positive healthy image of angling to the man in the street, the future will be safe.

Will you play your part?