IN response to Animal Lover Hillcrest, in last week’s Highway Mail (20 January, 2017) edition.
I’m very excited about the new fishing column and hope it takes off like a billfish on a line.
To outright say that the sport of fishing is a bad idea is a little unfair.
In the old days, some people condemned the television to be from the devil when in fact it’s not the TV but what you choose to watch on it.
In the same way, cruelty and kindness does not lay in the sport of fishing as such, but in those who practice it.
Like G-man said, responsible fishing where fish are tagged, resuscitated and released, serves a conservational purpose, assisting scientists to study and understand fish populations which in turn ensures the survival of fish species.
The number of fish caught and released by responsible sport fishermen as opposed to the masses slaughtered by commercial fishing trawlers is miniscule.
I am of the opinion that there are just too many people on the planet and that’s why our resources are under strain, not because of a community of nature loving, responsible fishermen.
Jacqui
Umdloti
