no-one in particular
Well-known member
I have never liked the way that fish for the pot are just shoved into a bag and left to suffocate or sometimes just left flapping around on the beach. I kill the fish straight away and clean them if possible ready for the pan. I cant do that on the pier so I kill them straight away and stop on the beach on the way home to clean and fillet if appropriate. A sharp knife and a pair of kitchen scissors for the tail and fins and the job is done. Saves all that mess and smell in the kitchen sink and in the dustbin and the sea gulls clean up any mess soon enough, and the fish are fresher as the guts have not had the time to putrefy and kinder to the fish. It is cruel to just leave them to suffocate, I have had a thing about that for years. When I was a kid and went out in the boat the skipper used to just chuck them into a bin and leave them to die slowly and I always felt sorry for them.I find the difference in culture that exist between sea and freshwater anglers interesting.
When I go sea fishing I always take a landing
net and an unhooking mat, always use barbless hooks, which often brings a comment or two from others. Fish caught from the sea often end up on the plate, their retrieval not so important but many are released but only after being dragged over rocks, shingle etc, not to mention that many are deep hooked, it does put me off at times.
Your right about it in general as well, Sea anglers do not treat their fish with any kindness even the ones they put back, if I have to drop them from a height I always try and make sure they enter the water head first, I don't know if it makes much difference but it looks to me like they don't suffer so much as when going in smack on their side, most just chuck them in without any thought as to how they go in; often enough they deliberately lob them in the air.
It is an area that could improve, I think it is a bit of a macho thing with some sea anglers and that's always daft in my opinion.
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