My email to Countryfile.
Dear Countryfile,
Should fishing be banned if hunting is banned? Definately not!
The two things are totally different and shouldn't be brought together in this way as a target for the 'antis' to aim for anyway.
Riders on horseback with accompanying dogs charging through the countryside for a single fox in the name of pest control I strongly disagree with and is the complete opposite to a lone figure, sitting quietly on the bankside trying (often unsuccesfully) to outwit the fish.
If foxes are the pest they're made out to be, then lets treat them as such and deal with them in the proper manner, not make a sport out of it.
Angling has come under attack from various directions in the past, and although we're quite happy to defend what we do, it does annoy me. Angling is a tranquil pastime, enjoyed by millions of people. We shouldn't have to keep on justifying what we do.
Stories in the media concerning swans ingesting lead shot and suffering from lead poisoning is a common one, but lead shot in the sizes most used by anglers was banned years ago, most of the lead shot that now scatters the countryside is, presumably, from shotgun cartridges.
Anglers took responsibility then and continue to do so, perhaps it's time that shotgun cartridges were filled with lead-free shot?
Another, more recent story, concerned whether or not fish feel pain. This research by Dr Sneddon, in which trout were injected with bee venom, is seriously flawed. The control group they used were injected using a needle with a saline solution and showed no behaviour indicating that they were in pain, only those fish injected with the venom showed any signs of discomfort.
To me this would suggest that hooks, being similar to needles, do not cause pain in fish, it was the injected bee venom.
Another reason for angling not to be banned is pollution, or rather the lack of it.
The Anglers' Conservation Association was started in 1948 to tackle the ever increasing problem of pollution. Funded by anglers, the association has only ever lost three cases. Without anglers, our rivers, streams and ponds would be grossly over-polluted and devoid of all fish and other wildlife.
So anglers are the unsung heroes of fish welfare, spotting and reporting the first signs of pollution. In fact, there is currently a problem on the R. Ribble (and others), where sanitary products are causing pollution after every flood.
Finally, I will be watching the programme on 11th May, hoping that you report back in a fair and unbiased manner.
Richard Drayson
Southampton, Hampshire.
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I haven't posted this email to them yet as I'd rather wait and see if anyone thinks it could be improved upon in some way.