Do sport fishers respect fish and nature?
Sport fishers say that they respect nature and its beauty. The question asked by us – animal rights organizations – is: “how is this respect shown”. Can you claim to respect nature when you injure a fish and take it out of its habitat with a hook and a line, to then put it back injured? (See also other consequences of sport fishing.) The number of fish species that is fished upon regularly has to be replenished (ref). You can answer the following questions best yourself: Can you injure an animal that can experience pain and stress, just because you enjoy a type of sport? Suppose someone would get ill, and as a consequence could no longer experience any pain. Does this lack of pain sensation imply that you can injure that person for fun? Is it respectful to an animal, no matter if it can experience pain and stress, when you injure it for fun?
