Fishing contests a cruel blood sport

Bob Hughes

Opinion

When I was only eight years old living in Palmerston North, one summer's evening my father took me fishing at the nearby Manawatu River.

Before long I had landed a native fish well over a foot long, a giant kokopu I think.

I couldn't hear it screaming but I could tell by the way it was writhing and thrashing, with hook in jaw, that my catch was suffering terribly and it didn't want to die.

I wasn't happy either, but I couldn't tell dad — he was enthusiastically praising me; his Bob was the hero of the day.

Fishing was Dad's other life. He liked fish.

I couldn't tell mum, either, when she served me my portion of flesh. I just know I didn't eat it.

Quotes from Mahatma Gandhi and St Francis of Assisi, who both believed in the oneness of life, and all creatures being family:

Saint Francis: “Be­cause all creatures are connected, each must be cherished with love and respect. All living creatures are dependent on one another.”

Gandhi: “. . . man's supremacy over lower animals meant not that the former should prey upon the latter.”

I think killing animals, birds or fish — or any living thing — for sport is immoral.

This Bay Bonanza of 120 boats and 500 anglers, competing for $65,000 in prize money and supported by business spectators and the public, is simply the cruel slaughter of some of our innocent marine cousins. It is truly a blood sport.

My long-deceased great-great-grandfather would have agreed with me I know.

Blood sports that brought suffering and death to birds and animals were popular leisure-time activities in his day.

I am proud my forebear, Rev Joseph Patterson, was instrumental in ending cockfighting, bear baiting and goose riding in the district of Wem, Shropshire, England where he preached in the 19th century.

Blood sports involving animals were considered entertainment just about everywhere in the world way back then. The 20th and 21st century have brought changes, but much of it still goes on today.

The cruel sports of dog fighting, cock fighting, bull fighting and the more acceptable duck shooting go on to this day. African big-game trophy safaris continue for the super rich. Fox hunting in the United Kingdom is for the gentry only, and nowadays the fox is supposed to be set free once traumatised.

To my mind, fishing competitions like this Bay Bonanza are like Wild West buffalo hunting, big game slaughter and other cruel “sports” mentioned.

Fish do suffer, I have witnessed it.

Other reasons to stop the slaughter:

The Ministry of Fisheries' list of overfished species includes southern bluefin tuna, Pacific bluefin tuna, black cardinalfish, bluenose, tarakihi and snapper.

Forest and Bird lists these and other species caught during this competition as “worst choice” on their Best Fish Guide sustainability list.

Enough about recreational fishing — it is commercial fishing that takes the heaviest toll on ocean wildlife, and New Zealand's seafood industry is not always as environmentally-friendly as claimed.

I'm on the side of the oceans and fish.

A few months back in my Witnessing species decline column, I wrote of 50 years of human activity wiping out half of global mammals, birds, reptiles and fish.

Our world's marine fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited or depleted.

Finally, most people eat fish as a choice. On reading this piece, I am sure most will understand why I haven't consumed any seafood since the beginning of the century. I hope with this column I have convinced some to go easier on our oceans.