Are we hypocrits?

On a recent thread it was stated by a few that they are against the killing of fish.

Yet consider this:

Have you walked into the average tackle shop recently and noted what is sold in vast quantities? If you don't know, let me tell you: Boilies and pellets!

Where do you think the vast majority of the ingredients to these boilies amd pellets come from?

They come from the sea.

Fishmeal, comprising of vast quantities of sandeels and small pelagic fishes such as sardines and pilchards are harvested in huge amounts to supply the bait industry of Europe.

And where do you think these ingredients end up?

In the guts of carp and barbel, that's where.

I have thought about this for a long time now and I often think we are on the wrong tak. What is the difference between a big cod and a 40 pound carp? Nothing in my opinion; except that a 40 lb cod is a lot rarer than a 40 lb carp. Are we using the limited resources of nature the wrong way? Are we only concerned as anglers in seeing ourselves in a photo behind a fish that has grown that big on a resource that if we are not careful might run out?

Perhaps we should ban the use of boilies and pellets as angling baits, to help the seas recuperate.

What do you think?

Useing pellets or fishmeals is one of the least hypocritical ways of some people on this forum.

Now come on Ron, you are expecting the masses to do something they haven't done for the years and have slowly lost the ability to do, that being the ability to see the bigger picture and realise the consequences of every action they take.

there are far more fish raped from the sea to supply you with your amrican vermin (rainbow trout)plus all the rest used to farm salmon for the table, which also tends to cause rather bad polution around the salmon cages, than goes into our rivers through anglers.
how much damage is done to the sea which affects all sea life just to let ron fling a bit of fluff for a foriegn fish inthryberg every year i wonder.

it's probably not less than 8 kilos of pellets for each kilo of trout i would think wouldn't be unreasonable. and you say you take a brace per week, that's 16 kilos of sandeel per week for you to have your bit of fun.
that would tend to pale into insignificance the kilo or so of bait which your average coarse angler would use in a week.
so there you ave it fly fishermen are by far the worst offenders.

You obviously don't know much about how Thrybergh is stocked mate.

The trout farming industry in the UK produces 16 to 18 thousand tonnes of trout a year of which about 75% of that goes directly to the table. Only 25% of that quantity goes to the stocking of trout waters.

The salmon farming industry probably produces the same tonnage of fish a year.

So that's 16 x 2 = 32,000 tonnes of fish.

To feed them up requires roughly 7 to 8 times the amount of feed per unit of bodyweight.

That's 32 x 7 = 224,000 tonnes of pellets.

The fishmeal industry is concentrated around the Southern Atlantic, especially off the coast of Namibia where there are vast amounts of pelagic fish such as anchovy and pilchard. Most of these fish eat krill.

So do most of the whales.

A single 100 tonne blue whale probably needs the equivalent amount per annum of the amount of krill necessary to produce 1000 tonnes of anchovy, if not more.

So the real culprit is the whale.

Oh and in reservoirs like Thrybergh the fish are stocked quite small, about 12oz to 1lb.

A 2 or 3 pound fish has grown on naturally in the insects and other wild life in the water.

Don't know where you pulled those figures from Ron, but take a closer look -

"the UK produces 16 to 18 thousand tonnes of trout a year ........ Only 25% of that quantity goes to the stocking of trout waters."

So at least 4,000 tonnes of fish go towards your fluff flinging. At 8 times that amount in pelagic fish that 32,000 tonnes of pelagic fish just to satisfy your trout fishing Ron. Tsk, tsk!

However, you then say -

"Namibia where there are vast amounts of pelagic fish such as anchovy and pilchard. Most of these fish eat krill. ..... So do most of the whales."

So by turning these pelagic fish into boilies We're helping to save whales.

BUM, BUM!

Well I enjoy my "fluff flinging" so there!

A single 100 tonne blue whale probably needs the equivalent amount per annum of the amount of krill necessary to produce 1000 tonnes of anchovy, if not more.

I go to whales every year for my holidays and have NEVER seen them eat anchovys, even on Pizza, so leave the taffy's alone and pick on someone else Ron!