Proof That Catch-and-Release is a Kill Sport

Jul 09, 2020

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
-Mahatma Gandhi

Definitions

Catch-and-release fishing: The process of hunting for fish and then releasing them back into the water.

Hunting: The act of tracking/trapping nonhuman animals in order to kill them, most often for sport.

Kill/Blood sport: An activity involving a nonhuman animal that is particularly brutal or violent or is done with the intent to harm and/or kill; some common examples are bullfighting, cockfighting, and hunting.

Speciesism: The discriminatory hierarchy of value humans place on animals' lives, with humans placed at the peak and all other animals falling into varying levels of lower classes.

Setting Aside Speciesism

Speciesism is one kind of discrimination that is so rampant in our society that the term isn't even known by the majority of humans, let alone discussed as a serious issue. However, in order to discuss today's topic, we must approach it with as little speciesism as possible, as fishes and other non-mammalian and non-bird sea creatures are the most abused, maligned, and discriminated against group of beings on the planet.

Fishes and other aquatic animals are viewed as virtually worthless, aside from when we choose to keep them in tanks as "pets." We even consider them all to be mindless, more akin to plants and rocks than actual living creatures, "as if there were no moral distinction between a cod and a cucumber."[1] We see their gaping mouths and unblinking eyes as alien and oafish. To us, fishes (and other underwater animals) are scaley, slimy swimming things with virtually no intelligent agency of their own.

Taking Pains

However, there is a strange disparity between what we think about fish and how we treat them (or how we believe we treat them). And that lies in this question: Do fishes feel pain? A North American survey showed that fishers are torn on this issue, as just "slightly more believed fishes feel pain than believed they do not." But that begs the question that if they can't feel pain, then why do so many fishers adamantly defend the catch-and-release principle? Surely, if they can't feel pain, then there's nothing wrong or immoral with a study "injecting [fishes'] eyes with carbon toner and corn oil."[1] If they can't feel pain, then we should be able to do whatever we want to them without remorse, like slicing them up alive like a carrot. And if they can't feel pain, then why does catch-and-release even matter?

However, these questions are easily answered with simple physiology, as fishes are vertebrates and have a nervous system, just like all other vertebrates -- mammalian or otherwise -- indicating that they can feel physical sensations like pain.[1, 2] Then, we're left with the argument that it is only around the mouth that fishes can't feel pain, which, if it were true, would be a remarkable feat of evolution that of all the creatures in the world, the entirety of the fish population just happens to be the only animals to not feel pain -- and, therefore, any other sensation -- on a specific part of their body and, coincidentally, that's exactly the body part where humans have chosen to hook them while hunting.

When we think of it that way, it's obvious that this is just an excuse made with absolutely no knowledge of fishes and basic biology for fishers to continue on without questioning their own ethics. Incidentally, however, fishes' "pain sensors are especially dense around their mouths, where they are often cruelly hooked and pulled." In fact, hooking and removing the barb from a fish is agonizing, similar to "'dentistry without Novocain, drilling into exposed nerves,'" which is precisely the opposite of what most people believe![2]

Mortalities

Studies have shown that between five and 100 percent of fish perish after returning to the water, though these numbers vary wildly due to numerous factors, such as the type of fish and "skill" of the fisher. (I refuse to acknowledge fish torture and murder as a legitimate skill.) "Studies have shown that fish who are hooked and thrown back are so traumatized that many die from the experience."[2] Birds, similarly, can die from fear, which is why, when captured for rehabilitation, rescuers often drape a towel over their faces to reduce their stress levels. Fishes get no such consideration. They struggle on the line, fighting for their lives as they (rightly) believe whatever is pulling them to the surface will be their demise, leading to exhaustion.[2]

A Short Story

For just a moment, please imagine if it were you on the other end of the line instead of a fish. If some unknown underwater beast stabbed a metal hook through your mouth and was pulling with all their might to drag you under the waves. You fight harder and harder, your skin ripping against the tension and blood dripping down your jaw. You're probably crying and screaming out for someone, anyone, to save you...but no one does. The more you struggle, the more hopeless it seems. The edge of the water keeps getting closer: 30 feet, 20 feet, 10 feet away now.

Finally, when all your strength is gone and you're in so much pain that death seems like an acceptable option, you're dragged down, down, down into the water. Your lungs burn as the last bit of air escapes into bubbles around you, and the weight of the water is trying to flatten your entire body, compress your organs and veins and bones into nothing. And then the sea monster rips out the barbed hook and throws you back onto the land. Air crashes back into your lungs as your body smacks on the ground.

How do you continue living a normal life after something like that? Especially knowing that your hunter calls it a sport, that they say you obviously can't feel any pain because you're only a stupid human; that it was just for fun; that they were bummed because they only caught some scrawny thing they couldn't even keep; that they have the audacity to believe that you could somehow just walk it off, forget it ever happened, and not be forever traumatized by the experience.

Now, that's not to say that fishes and humans have exactly the same experiences of consciousness, but there are levels of similarity and kinship, as we see with the fact that fishes do sometimes die after being released, that we simply cannot ignore if we want to be moral ambassadors of our species.

Exterior Damage

With the rise of social media and wildlife photography becoming an easy way to get lots of likes and attention, people often want to take pictures with their catches, even if they release them afterward; the fishes' bodies and lives are no more than a prize of insignificant numbers on a screen. Just like humans can only be underwater for a short period of time before our bodies begin to shut down and we lose brain function, the same goes for fishes; the longer a fish is out of water, the more likely they are to die after being released. Even when just handling a fish in as swift a manner as possible to release them quickly after being landed, "the fisher damages the protective mucus layer on the fish's scales."[2] It is impossible to hook a fish without physically harming and traumatizing them.

The Forgotten

In order to fish, there must be bait. Though faux lures are available, fishers often use live or dead animals, like worms, shrimp, squid, and other small fishes. (And no one uses exclusively one or the other. Fishers often use a combination of lures and bait.) If the bait animals are dead, then the fisher, upon purchase, paid for them to be killed; it's no different than buying animal flesh from the grocery store. But if the animal is hooked alive, then they always die on the line. Imagine the agony of being stabbed, often multiple times, through your body and being tossed into the water, drowning under it, sitting there like bait (literally) for a fish to come up and eat you. The whole intent of using bait animals is to kill them. How can something be considered a sport, a hobby, when it is performed at the cost of so much suffering? The only way to describe it is absolute barbarity.

Plastic Victims

Particularly for inexperienced fishers, a fish will sometimes get hooked the wrong way. Several times on my fishing excursions, I didn't set the hook quite right, resulting in the fish swallowing it. And after reeling them in what must've been an excruciating trip, pulling them up onto the dock by their insides, I couldn't bear the thought of having them killed. So, we simply cut the line and threw them back, leaving the hook inside them so they could die painfully and slowly. Sometimes, the fishing line gets tangled up and the fisher must cut dozens of yards off, just throwing it away. And on occasion, a fisher will hook a fish too strong for them to land, so they simply cut off the line from the rod, allowing the fish to swim away with a barb in their jaw and trailing plastic around as long as they live.

How can anyone condemn the use of plastic, even go to the beach and pick up plastic litter off the shore or stop using plastic straws altogether because they watched one turtle video, and not condemn the massive amounts of plastic used for fishing? After all, 46 percent of all plastic in the ocean comes from fishing; though those are predominantly from industrial operations far out at sea, that just goes to show how important it is to keep every little piece of plastic out of the water.[3] Because it will never go away. Sure, it'll break down into microscopic pieces, but just because humans can't see it doesn't mean it simply ceases to exist. Even if you couldn't care less about the fish population, every other species in that ecosystem relies on their existence. Not only are the turtles and seals and dolphins and birds at risk from accidentally consuming plastic, but their food source is, too. Caring only about certain animals will be the demise of all animals.

Indoctrinating the Innocent

Possibly one of my greatest concerns for the future and for younger generations is that we continue to perpetuate fishing as a fun outdoor hobby; it's a way for kids to get off their phones and "connect with nature." I see children out fishing with their parents and grandparents all the time, though I know most kids genuinely adore fishes and simply want to be able to see one up close. They don't realize that adults are teaching them how to abuse and kill other creatures. When I was young, I often enjoyed fishing because it felt like a way of connecting with animals I could almost never see without going to an aquarium or staring in my friends' fishtanks.

Though I nearly always fished to catch-and-release, I could never guarantee that the animals I caught wouldn't die. The only way to not kill them is to not hunt them. With that being said, I want to conclude with a small excerpt from What a Fish Knows by Jonathan Balcombe on his own experiences fishing as a young boy and how children are often not afforded the opportunity to speak out against violent actions:

"But, as a sensitive boy with a soft spot for animals, I was disturbed by a lot of what went on in that rowboat. I worried privately about the worms. I fretted that the fish felt pain as the stubborn hook was extracted from their bony, staring faces. Maybe one of the 'keepers' survived the knife and was dying slowly in the wire basket dangling over the side. But the kind man sitting at the bow didn't seem to think there was anything wrong, so I rationalized that it must be okay."

be conscious, be kind, be vegan

Sources

[1] What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins by Jonathan Balcombe

[2] The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony by Dr. Will Tuttle

[3] "Let us be Heroes - The True Cost of our Food Choices (2018) Full documentary"