David Stocker sent us the body of this story. David is the Countryside Alliance Media Relations Manager, N-W England & W.Midlands.
A children’s fishing event was targeted by animal rights activists. Organisers of the event called for police protection at the riverbank following a string of threats from a protest group.
The internet-based animal rights group ‘Keep On Fighting’ encouraged its supporters to disrupt the morning’s annual event on Passies Ponds in Coombes, near Lancing, in order to “stop a new generation of blood sport enthusiasts”.
People claiming to be from the group have made threatening phone calls to the Environment Agency and Adur District Council. Both organisations help run the event, which gives youngsters the chance to try coarse fishing for free, and they were so concerned about what the activists might do they contacted police to ask for protection.
Passies Ponds owner Trevor Price, 53, branded Keep On Fighting’s actions “immoral”.
He said: “I can’t believe they are targeting innocent kids who just want to get into the countryside and see if they enjoy the sport.”
The event has taken place annually for nine years and has helped hundreds of youngsters become interested in fishing. Mr Price said: “A lot of people are giving up time and money for the sake of the kids because they feel it is worth it. I think these activists are being totally immoral.
An article on the ‘Keep On Fighting’ web site claims fishing leads to “untold misery and suffering to not just fish but other species of British wildlife such as birds and mammals”.
Mr Price rejected any charges that the sport was cruel. He said: “Fishing has been around for thousands of years. In this day and age things have got better and we insist on barbless hooks and specially designed nets. Every single fish is returned to the water as well. These activists should leave us alone as this will get children off the street and doing something with their time.”
This is the letter that ‘Keep on Fighting’ sent to the local newspaper:
“I am writing in response to yesterdays front-page article about the childrens introduction and Keep On Fighting’s opposition to it.
Keep On Fighting opposed this event for a number of reasons. From reports and investigations by leading scientists spanning over 20 years, it has been concluded that fish do feel pain. We are also concerned about the amount of discarded fishing line and other debris littering the countryside, and the number of animals and birds that become trapped within this causing horrific injuries and even death.
As Mr Price said in your article, these children are innocent and we feel that it is wrong that they should be taught to injure living species, especially at the expense of taxpayers.
We certainly wouldn’t like children to spend their summer holidays indoors in front of a computer screen. They should be out exploring the great British countryside and the many gems that can be found within. We would urge Adur Council to divert resources away from this fishing event and into another programme to explore different eco-systems within the country and how we can live in harmony within it.
Keep On Fighting would like to make it perfectly clear that in discussions with the Environment Agency and Mark Kentell from the council there were no threats made and the pros and cons to this event were listened to. On our active mail out we asked our supporters to contact those involved and ask them politely not to repeat the event.
Representatives from Keep On Fighting today attended Passies Pond to highlight our concerns. An alarm was used to make noise and alert people to our presence and around 20 small stones were thrown into the water to scare the fish. Our hope was that the children may question their parents as to why we were there and what we were doing and perhaps see the other side of the argument for themselves, after all this had been overlooked by those involved.
Due to the fact that there were children in attendance this action was for a very short space of time, on the opposite side of the bank, nothing verbal was said and was very good natured.
Once asked to leave the site we made our way towards the exit and around the pond collecting carelessly discarded litter including a tin can full of fishing line that posed a significant risk to wildlife. It was at the exit and as we were leaving that an angling supporter threatened us with violence and had it not been for us using a video camera we feel that he would have carried out this threat.
If any readers would like further information into the evidence about fishing and related arguments, these may be found on our website.”
These are the responses from those they contacted:
RE: Scientific evidence showing fish feel pain:
The recent scientific evidence has not stood up to scrutiny, and was neither conclusive nor as thorough as Professor Rose’s research some months earlier, concluding that fish can’t feel pain.
The Environment Agency cannot regulate fishing on the basis of perceived pain, in fact we carry out our duties according to the Acts of Parliament that gave us our powers.
RE: The Environment Agency supporting angling events in the light of this evidence:
The Agency and the Government support angling and are actively promoting angling events and introducing new participants to the sport. We encourage junior and adult angling events as it is a healthy, legitimate sport.
The Agency contributes significant time and money into partnership schemes with local authorities and angling clubs. We regularly run junior coaching events where good practice is both encouraged and taught. The youngsters of today are the adults of tomorrow. Knowledge of angling and in the process, appreciation for the wider environment is of benefit to all.
Also, anglers assist us by being our “eyes and ears” on the riverbank and have frequently alerted us of early stages of pollution to rivers that has prevented major pollution incidents taking place.
RE: Evidence of damage caused to fish by angling:
We do not know what scientific knowledge of this there is. There may be reports available, however angling is a legal activity and the governing bodies have issued several codes of conduct that offer advice on handling fish with care and minimising impacts on the environment.
The Agency also always aims to ensure that anglers fully aware of their responsibilities to conservation, wildlife and the environment in general by educating them through events such as this.
