I would seriously doubt that much of the general public could care less. The tree huggers couldn't really care, sticking a hook in fish is more than enough to get them worked up.
The reality is that the only people that have any concern about keepnets, weigh ins, unhooking mats etc are other anglers. The cynic in me sees this as an industry driven thing. Twenty years ago, very few were using unhooking mats, towel held fish were a common sight, pictures of huge bags of irish bream and roach spilling from a keepnet onto a sheet of polythene graced the AT/AM on a regular basis. Increased fish care standards are no bad thing, but it is getting a little extreme. The carp gear fish care kit arms race is incredible. Make no mistake, fish care is now it's own little money spinner. It has gone as far as some fisheries insisting on specific makes and models of cradle having to be used. Fine and dandy if they are fishery provided, a bit much if they aren't, especially if you have something similar already that doesn't happen to be the requisite make/model.
Just post a pic on a carp forum of a big carp without a whopping great unhooking mat beneath it, step back and wait for the grief. Even if the ground beneath is thick moss or grass, it makes little difference.
