Angling & the Countryside Alliance

[Alan Cooper]

No, I didn't know that Ron. Very interesting. The trait of absolute intolerance begets absolute murderous thuggery. But it doesn't surprise me. After all is said and done the liberal (live AND let live) is stronger in me than anything else. God forbid some of these antis getting their hands on power.

 

[clive mansfield]

As a predominantly Game Fisherman who does eat a lot of what I catch it is relatively easy to justify my fishing.
Fox hunters have argued that they hunt as a means of vermin control. That argument has not satisfied the Antis.
What argument are Course fishermen & women going to use when faced with the Antis?
I'm playing Devil's Advocat of course but Please Please DO NOT be complacent and think that we are excempt. I believe we must unite with other groups in order to survive.
I have yet to see an Anti cleaning a river or mending a fence, but that argument alone will not stop them.
Give it some thought.

 

[GrahamM]

Clive says 'give it some thought', and that is excellent advice.

Too many anglers are against joining the Countryside Alliance solely because of their hatred of fox hunting, but if they really did give it some thought they'd see that we have to swallow one or two bitter pills in order to keep fishing safe.

 

[GrahamM]

I caught the tail-end of a discussion on Radio 5 at 7.55 this morning. They were interviewing someone from the Countryside Alliance and he made an excellent point when he said that the great majority of the general public were not against fox hunting due to any concern about the plight of the fox, but because they could use the issue to score political points.

He said they were all agreed that the fox population had to be controlled but that they had no opinion as to how that should be done, except that it shouldn't be done with horses and hounds.

 

[Alan Roe]

Clive, there is an extent to which you may have missed the point.
The hard core anti's do not care whether or not you eat your catch they believe passionately that we should all be vegetarians just like them.
They go very much further in their beliefs than many would think possible as these fanatics would also ban the keeping of animals as pets I jest you not!
From their point of view, regardless of what we subsequently do with it, the fact that we take pleasure from catching our quarry is sufficient for it to be banned, in their eyes.
Given that this is their baseline position from which they will not move all the appeasment in the world will not stop them from campaigning against all field sports.
Whilst I am happy in the light of modern tackle and technique developments for today's anglers to have a greater awareness of the care and protection of our quarry and to voluntarily change their practises in the light of these factors to benefit our quarry.
What does concern me is when sub groups within angling attempt to evangelise the majority to mend their ways from a moral perspective.
Two examples of this are the Catch and Release debate within game fishing and the Livebaiting debate within coarse fishing.
It is healthy for all anglers to be aware of the pro's and con's of the options and to follow the dictates of their own thinking on reflection of the issues.
Where we must not go is the feeding the myth that following the 'right' moral path will get the anti's to pack up and go home.
Just as we hunt our quarry we are ourselves their quarry and we need to be mindful of this.

 

[Stephen Hollifield]

The majority of the general public are abhorred by fox hunting, however I do not believe that angling commands the same feeling.
Therefore where is the logic in joining forces with something that most people clearly feel is barbaric.
I also think you have to go with your conscience on this one, I personaly believe that fox hunting with dogs is too barbaric to have any place in modern society, therefore it would be extremely hypocritical for me to support fox hunting to protect my own interest in angling.
Angling should stand up on its own platform as I do not believe that any government would ban a sport that is

a) participated by millions
b) not offensive to the majority of the general public.

Cheers for now
Steve

 

[Kevan Farmer]

Does anybody think that the hunting lobby will remain members of 'The Countryside Alliance' if fox hunting is banned? If they did leave in droves - as I suspect, then yes, I personally would be all for joining.

Or, what about joining some of the anti groups? Ok, it's tongue in cheek. But can you imagine it? When it comes time to voting or demonstrating vote for fishing etc and hold a placard up saying fishing is good.

Kevan

 

[Gerry Castles]

It's about drawing the line. I would draw the line under hunting with dogs not above it, because
1 I hate it
2 It's already a lost cause.
3 I don't Joe Public believing it's all
one and the same as angling.
Shooting I'll support, someone made a valid point about the quarry being eaten afterwards. It's no less humane than the average slaughterhouse and as an Irish friend of mine maintains 'sure if the bullets don't quite do the job, the fall will kill it.

 

[Richard Drayson]

Rik summed up my thoughts on this subject when he said:-
"I agree that we need to join with as many like-minded people as possible to save our sport from pathetic hippies, but I have reservations about linking with the hunting lobby."

I know it doesn't help to 'sit on the fence' but would hate to take the wrong decision on this.

 

[Kevin Perkins]

Merge with the Countryside Alliance? I think this harks back to the days of 'Huntin' Shootin' Fishin' - when the main pre-occupation was 'Have the beaters/ghillies set it up - and I'll kill it'. Coarse anglers do not belong to this club, and I would urge the Salmon and Trout boys to distance themselves as far as possible from getting involved.

 

[Keith Manger]

I'm not sure that shooting birds can be justified any more than Fox Hunting (having witnessed geese drop from the sky and skuttle wounded across the water onto an island while a dog swam across to finish them off). If you want to shoot shoot at targets like clay pigeons etc. I cringed when one of the Fox Hunting fraternity grouped Fishing and Fox Hunting together in his defence for Fox hunting on Telly.
But I agree that if it makes our sport safer then we should consider joining the countryside alliance especially if the Fox Hunting Fraternity are forced to get licenced and are restricted to hunting only if there is proven to be a need to cull Foxes in a particular area.

 

[Chris Vardy]

One aspect to consider is whether we are perceived in the same manner as hunters and shooters. Your example Keith, highlights those who do not differentiate yet I would hope that there are others that do.

We face a dilemma. Join up, benefit from shared support and enter the argument now or distance ourselves, get no support and wait for the arguments to come.

 

[Alan Fawcett]

Original posting by Chris Vardy.
"One aspect to consider is whether we are perceived in the same manner as hunters and shooters. Your example Keith, highlights those who do not differentiate yet I would hope that there are others that do."

It would seem according to my local paper "the newsletter" that certain high ranking members of the CA don't know the difference between fishing & hunting.

Alex crombie (i think thats the name i can't bloody remember it now) said "there is no difference between fox,stag & hare hunting & fishing"

What an idiot!!!
When was the last time you saw Big Rik, Malc B & Neil Wayte riding across a lake screaming "tally ho" & using a pack of hounds to catch a carp?

How many of you kill your catches & don't carefully remove them from the net, put them on a mat maybe put some klinik or similar on any sores etc then release them back into the water to live & fight another day??

How the hell can he say there's no difference?

 

[Ashe Hurst]

Ive writen several articals over the years,some of which got published about angling under one governing body.
Also that the general public need to be educated as to what angling is realy all about,what the lisence fee is for and how we care for our fish/catch and protect the environment.
A lot is being done within angling,but only made public within angling with the odd ecception.
We need a high profile,national campaign that reaches jo public.
Lets get our angling celebs involved along with other TV and sports personalities who fish.
Make it known that our match anglers are getting better results than our other sports.
Also the charity fund raising and other good causes.
The list goes on,We also have to educate the media and TV production companies too.
Another thing ,we see lots on wild life around UK and the world, but almost nothing about our native fish spiecies, why?

Im sure things like this will help the public understand us and give us their support.

 

[Andy Bebbington]

THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS NO WE SHOULD NOT JOIN.

 

[Chrisx Ess]

I think it's most likely that the Countryside Alliance will fade away, like hunting with dogs. Why? because F&M is now over, the beef bans will soon end - the farmers and the rest will go back to making money while they can. The hunting issue is now dead. Angling is just as much an urban pursuit as a rural one. I say no to the CA - nor should we emulate them - they made too many mistakes.