There are plenty of fly fisherman who would disagree. Most fly fisherman have pushed for protected waters, and protected them by minimizing damaging the fish, with the removal of the hook's barb. Most fly fisherman that I know will not even take the fish out of water to release the fish.
The most horrible form of hunting id have to say is trapping as its much slower in a sense but similar to fishing.
Fishing comes in various forms obviously and I totally think finning is horrible but as they say, "nature is metal".
As a fly fisherman I have to agree. Most fly fishermen put a lot of effort into saving fish. The general rule is to use barbless hooks and to never remove the fish from the water and to handle it with gloves to improve its chance of survival.
But I will admit that most fly fisherman do not keep their catch. The vast majority is catch-and-release, which receives very open criticism. But in order to protect the sport, most fly fishermen go to extreme efforts to protect the species.
Likewise most hunters actually go to extreme measures to protect environments they hunt in. And hunting tags and fees are the largest source of funding for environmental restoration programs. Hunters also commonly contribute to conservation programs. A few bad hunters that make the news tend to spoil this reputation. But if you enjoy the outdoors, hiking, and other similar sports it is thanks to hunters that a lot of those programs are funded and continue to exist.
In both these cases, The humanity of the animals and the protections of their species and environments are encouraged strongly throughout the community.
Shark finning is very much the opposite. No care is provided to the humanity of the animals. An equivilant western version of shark finning would be hunting a bear or wolf (a protected diminishing species), then cutting its liver out while its alive, and then leaving it helpless in the woods to die slowly over the course of the next few hours or half a day.
While I understand everyone's argument that ethnocentrism over eastern beliefs prevent us from understanding this practice. But there is a line that needs to be drawn between the humanity of an animal and the conservation of its species. Neither of these factors are being considered in Shark finning. If they want to eat shark fins, I don't inheritely have a problem with that. But programs should exist to propagate the shark species. Also the animal should simply be killed before harvesting. If those conditions were met, I don't think the practice would receive anywhere near the scrutiny that it does today.
It's important, because if you want them to change, you need to understand why they preform an action to begin with. The alternative is an ignorant attempt to tell them what is right and wrong based on only your beliefs.
> The looming question- what if pointless cruelty and prolonged suffering is an important part of the culture? What then?
Then it would be irresponsible for the US congress to be spending public money to buy tools which create the expectation that we would sustain our effort sending our beloved sons to immerse themselves both in that culture and the cruel trauma of war.
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But does anyone here actually think that pointless cruelty is an important part of the relevant east asian cultures? I know myself that my understanding is so superficial that I'd be arrogant and lazy to make any judgements without spending far more time and attention to learn. I also have not seen any evidence of that in the individual people I've met, only the same varied mix of human cruelty and compassion in other peoples.
Only if you're fishing for wild trout, which is the minority in the UK. Most fly fishing is stocked fish in still waters and your ticket normally has a limit on how many trout you can take (typically 5 in a day), and once you hit that limit you stop fishing.
I find fishing barbaric, and I spent a lot of time fishing as a kid. Fly fishing is definitely more humane than a lot of other types of fishing, but ultimately you’re hurting a fish for pleasure. That’s basically a form of sadism. Of course, most don’t take pleasure in the fish’s pain, but the suffering of the fish is an essential part of the sport. You can’t catch a fish without it suffering. And ultimately, most just take a picture and throw the fish back. These days, I’d rather go for a hike along the river.
The most horrible form of hunting id have to say is trapping as its much slower in a sense but similar to fishing.
Fishing comes in various forms obviously and I totally think finning is horrible but as they say, "nature is metal".