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#1
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Food for thought
In the spirit of reviving BM, I thought I'd try and spark a bit of discussion. This is a short summary of an article that was published recently about fish sentience:
https://www.mq.edu.au/newsroom/2017/...ideration-too/ Basically, it states that the growing consensus in the scientific community is that fish feel pain in a similar way to humans, but fish welfare is almost non-existent. I often struggle with the ethical dilemmas associated with fishing, but my love for catching fish always outweighs my conscience. These articles make me stop and think twice though. |
#2
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It stands to reason that fish do actually feel pain. It's the mechanism that all animals have evolved and it's designed to stop them performing any activity that may be causing them physical harm.
Apparently, there are some humans who don't feel any pain at all. These people are constantly hurting themselves badly, as they don't realise the damage they're causing to themselves under certain conditions. For me, the big question is, do fish feel pain like we do? In my opinion, they probably don't. Many fish that predate on creatures such as mussels, crab and very spiny fish, etc, must damage their mouths in the process of eating them. I've seen old bream and snapper with badly damaged lips, teeth and gums, yet they continue to feed regardless. My guess is, they don't have too many nerve ending in the vicinity of their mouths. If this is the case, the process of hooking fish probably doesn't cause them much pain at all. Having said that, I always treat any fish I have managed to catch with the utmost respect. I rarely kill fish these days, but if I do, I make it quick and painless. I only handle them with wet hands and I don't have them out of the water any longer than is absolutely necessary. I also swim my released fish to ensure their survival. |
#3
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Quote:
In addition, you'll often (maybe not often, but reasonably regularly) see fish with hooks/lures/line hanging out of their mouths, still willing to feed and take a lure. I hate to see a big bucket (or worse, a pile on the ground) of fish just cooking in the sun, still alive. Either release them when you catch them or kill them quickly. |
#4
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Yeah I agree - bream especially don't seem to have pain receptors in their mouths. It's the stress of capture that does the damage - there are lots of published studies (mainly on sharks) linking capture with various negative physiological changes (eg: altered blood pH, changes to plasma concentrations etc). As you guys said, as responsible fisho's I think the best thing we can do is try to minimise this stress by handling fish responsibly.
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#5
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I think we should also try to implement fishing methods that are less likely to harm fish. Eg: don't fish 2lb leaders in snags. There is nothing worse than leaving lures in fish.
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#6
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My thoughts are that I will do less damage to mouths without a barb, decrease time spent out of water (less stuffing around getting hooks out) and if i do get busted off the lure should drop out pretty easily. |
#7
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Barbless would be a good initiative i think.
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Raymond Y All the gear, no idea |
#8
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#9
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This.....another advantage of barbless hooks is if you're using a floating lure on the odd occasion when busted off, the fish will discard your lure pretty quick and you get can get it back.
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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] |
#10
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I've been fishing with barbless trebles for years with no noticeable negative effect.
They are so much easier to remove, especially from clothing and human body parts.
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Dyslexics of the world untie. Stihl..ms200-088 mag Petzl..hardware Buckingham.. harness and spurs Fireline...ropes PB.Hard. 46 mtr Mountain Ash PB. Soft. 42 mtr Trifurcated Cypress |
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