Doug I completely understand where you are coming from, I once held the same opinion myself, but people like Imogen will never be happy, they will always want more, the structure of their empire needs to feed on us and they will continue to feed on us until we are no more.

Unfortunately this type of reaction is no longer restricted to the our iconic species like the billfish, I can show numerous examples of a family going out and catching a legal bag of fish posting the picture on the net and being crucified by fellow anglers, on our bread and butter fish, in a climate where over the last few years fishing has been constantly improving. I do agree with you that this perception from the general public is a huge problem, but I feel we need to start doing things to change this perception ratter then just go along with it.

We live in a time when we have been disengaged from the reality of where our food comes from, and fishing has been one of the soft targets as a result of this, recently when British school kids where asked where a tomato comes from, most kids answer “the shop”. Almost every single fishing show that goes to air here has that classic shot when they say we will keep this one for dinner and that’s where they cut the shot, killing the fish is nothing to be ashamed about its all part of fishing, as information for anglers goes humanly and effectively killing the fish is as important as what bait to use, yet we have been conditioned to now think that this is no longer appropriate to show on TV.

But my greatest concern is that this anti-fishing campaign is going to distract from what we should be doing to protect not only our sport, hobby, way of life or whatever it happens to be, but the species that we all enjoy targeting. The example of the Black Marine was used by the advocates for the Coral sea Marine Parks to protect their spawning ground from fishing which everyone agrees is only a very small activity in the area, and that the area is in fantastic shape, yet the nursery area of the Black Marlin which happens to be in the lagoons of the Great Barrier reef marine park is being decimated, this same area after the recent heavy rains saw a fish kill where numerous fish species, dugongs and sea turtles where washing up dead, so while all the attention has been placed on removing the few people fishing from a very healthy area, little if any action has been taken to do something about this vulnerable nursery area, and that’s probably my point more than anything that by going along with this agenda that has been set for us by these groups, I believe we become part of the problem, we are way behind in this game.

We are probably a little different in here in Australia in my life time I have witnessed hunting and shooting being vilified so much that we recently had two Olympic athletes reprimanded and sent straight home after their events in London for simply posting a picture of themselves holding firearms in a legitimate legal gun shop in America during a training camp, even hunting feral animals is frowned upon here, and seen as something barbaric. We have a situation here in a marine sanctuary (no fishing zone) where the very large numbers of New Zealand fur seals have decimated the local penguin population and our unique giant cuttlefish, yet any talk about doing something to control the these seal numbers is quickly shut down, instead they have increased the no fishing area.
If we let this status quo continue the next campaign we see will be to stop catch and release fishing, they will claim that is cruel and unnecessarily inflicting injury and pain to fish just for sport, just for our enjoyment! How do we counter that PR campaign?

Sorry for high jacking your article thank you for your time and I think is great to be able to have a discussion on issues like this openly and sensibly, if anyone is interested in finding out more about what’s happening down under with some of these issues have a look at the We Fish blog.

http://wefishaustralia.blogspot.com.au/

cheers

As a recreational angler from Australia, who is at the fore front of the battle to protect what we as anglers do, I have to disagree with you Doug.

There has been a relentless ant-fishing campaign over the last 20 years and its time we as anglers stop pandering to them in an futile attempt to appease them, they will never be happy until they are successful in totally restricting what we do. This anti-fishing campaign has been brutal, not only greatly influencing the general public but a great deal of angler as well, with their propaganda and lies.

Not only is recreational fishing if managed properly sustainable, has fantastic health benefits to those participating, has been responsible in providing vital information on species like the Marlin, fundamental in understanding and ensuring the survival of these species, but as a food source few other food sources would be able to compete with recreational fishing, on sustainability, lack of environmental impact and the carbon and water footprint.
Here in Australia we are just about to impose marine parks on our Coral Sea, the Black Marlin area. While the government and all the advocates agree that recreational fishing in the area is only a very small activity, and that the area is in pristine condition. They still chose to restrict us, while totally ignoring the real threats that the area faces today. We have had 300 marine scientist sign a document that included the request to not encourage catch and release fishing in the area, for marine scientist to be against catch and release fishing, a tool vital in their work, shows that this is a political statement not a scientific one, but more importantly shows what we are up against. The great danger is not that they will restrict us but that this anti-fishing campaign has distracted not only the advocates but the public at large from the real threats our marine environment faces.

Yes the opinion of the general non fishing public is important, but we must stop being reactive and start be proactive, if we want our kids and future generations to enjoy what we enjoy, otherwise we will compromise ourselves into a position were fishing is seen as an activity of the past. We should be proud of what we do and not ashamed of it, and in this ever increasing online world, full of people that require no more than 3 sec to hit the like button in an attempt to somehow appease there conscious, armed with not even the basic information on the issue, we are up against it, but if we start compromising for their benefit then it’s already all over.

We should not be so keen to unnecessarily restrict what we do our selves, others will do that for us soon enough!

In North Carolina, we host the Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament every June, where tournament leading fish are brought to the dock. After being weighed at the dock these fish are taken to a local university's marine research facility. Organs and otoliths from these fish are harvested, frozen, and shipped to researchers around the world, providing valuable information for the conservation of these species. Before you demonize those who bring these fish to the dock, consider the positives that come from harvested fish. While it may seem counterintuitive to harvest fish we want to conserve, some individuals must be taken in order to broaden our understanding.