Is fishing cruel?

As far as I'm concerned, it depends on whether or not they eat the fish afterward. I disagree with prolonging the agony as well; I don't like torture of any animal for "the hunt" or sport. Fishing has been around for a long time, and I don't fully disagree with it, but if you are going to hunt, you should honor the bounty and not waste it.

 

Being somewhat asthmatic myself, I've always hated those fishing shows where they show the fish gasping for air. But I've been fishing before, and I enjoy eating what I've caught. Mind you, I don't like cleaning or killing the fish...but if I had to, I'd keep them in water and alive until I got home (and hookless) then I'd quickly chop off their heads with a cleaver so they felt nothing.

But then, I feel bad for the crabs and lobster catches in the grocery stores, too...

 

Shut up Quinlan, theres nothing wrong with fishing, this thread is stupid.

DO YOU THINK THIS THING DESERVES LIFE?

 

There is nothing wrong with fishing. Alot of people enjoy it, and we kinda need fish as food. Mind you, I do have a problem with people who fish, then either torture/unnesscarrly harm the fish, but that goes for any animal.

That being said, I can not fish myself. I have actually gone fishing alot in the past ever since I was a kid (usually I just watched most of the time or played in my own world on the side of the boat or with my cousin). But after I got older and was told to unhook the fish myself, I couldn't do it anymore. I can not help it but I feel bad for the fish. Not to mention I always went with my dad and he was a jerk about it. He threw a fish down my shirt once... then yelled at ME for getting mad, and that is just one thing.

 

SEAFOOD IS ICKY. IT IS NOT WORTH IT.

except maybe, lobster & crab. (LOL i originally mispelled crab... as... ahem.)

 

If i were to fish, i would let the fish go after catching it even though it may be a long wait.Freedom.They got one life too even though i do eat them.There was one time where i was 4 and i caught 2 fishy with a net but it wobbled about so it fell off.I didn't know where they went and suddenly, i realized that there was an extra grounding i was stepping on.Lifting my foot were 2 small sliver fish whom eyes looked shocked.

 

Fishing can be done, using barbless hooks fishing becomes harder to set the hook. and when you do catch a fish, do everything in your power to keep the fish submerged in water as you take the hook out to ensure that the integrety of it's coating is untouched. Coating on the fish ensures that it will continue to keep blocking bacteria and reducing the fish's chance of it's scales becoming infected. But when the hook is set too deep be sure to club the fish out and kill it ASAP.

(i forget what the coating is called)

Gut scale cook enjoy.

 

I'll answer this question next week after I go to sundance and see "The End of the Line"

A documentary about the industry of fishing and how we're eventually going to run out of fish by 2048.

 

I've tried fishing, and honestly, it freaked me out. My husband and son used to fish on the lake near our house in Connecticut almost every night from the time my son was about 3 years old. They employed humane catch and release techniques, but every now and then something would happen (swallowed hook, hook to the eye, etc.) and they were both HORRIFIED when that would happen, and my husband made sure he and my son discussed what had happened and how they could try to avoid it - and hurting the fish - in the future.

I have no objection to hunting/fishing for food, but I'm always made uncomfortable by the practice of killing anything for sport, or prolonging the "capture" by fighting/wounding with no intention of consuming (or making available to other for consumption).

I am absolutely in favor of the humane treatment and killing of any animals we intend to use for food, regardless of where they fall on the intelligence meter.

 

Fishing is cruel when people make me go with them, very cruel *yawn*

 

Yea I agree with this. I'm a vegetarian (I don't eat fish) but it's mostly for health/social reasons (as slant notes we're are horrible at remaining in balance with the natural world). Plus we pollute the oceans terribly. Loads of mercury in fish these days.

But I have nothing against eating meat per se, or fishing /hunting, so long as there is a purpose behind it. If the oceans were clean and we had some balance with the natural world, I would love to live life as a fisherman....hanging out by a lake/ocean all day, feeling the sun, just taking enough from the world to meet your needs, enjoying life...maybe i glamorize it too much, haha.

 

Nope, not inhumane at all, when its practiced correctly.

This means you aren't using the biggest hook in your bag to try and catch a LM bass.

If you intend on bringing your catch home, keep them in a waterfilled bucket (or on a gill string and in the water), or dispatch the fish quickly and put them on ice.

Use gloves at all times when handling any catch and releasers, never never never throw the fish into the water. Place them into the water, preferable upright with a hand underneath them til they get their equilibrium back. If the fish is hooked through an eye, or close to the eye, snip off the barb with a wirecutter and then remove the hook. If you are pleasure fishing, consider using a barbless hook....its harder to land a fish, but safer for the fish.

I love to fish. And whether or not I am going to clean and eat them I always handle them like I am going to catch and release.

 

I like to fish on a nice warm day. I find it relaxing. If the fish is big enough to cook I keep it and eat it. Otherwise it's back into the water.

 

I've never really cared at all when that happens.

 

I don't understand something like fishing "for sport". I just don't understand how being a source of pain to someone/something can be enjoyable. For some reason, I thought of bullying "for sport". A kid forcing another kid's head into a toilet or something. Just because they can. I know it's not nearly comparable, but it came to mind.

I don't want to be an ass - but isn't it really a lack of empathy for others? Including animals?

If it can feel pain, then why intentionally hurt it? I wouldn't appreciate being that fish and having that done to me. Not being able to cognitively understand it wouldn't diminish the physical pain. And the idea that a fish doesn't deserve that sort of consideration... to me, that again, seems to be an issue of empathy.

 

No, it's actually just an issue of whether or not you anthropomorphize. I don't.

 

What do you mean? What I said about fish feeling pain?

 

I was referring to this.