From: RustyBullethole, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Times 24.7.00
Anglers call for protection as protests mount
BY VALERIE ELLIOTT, COUNTRYSIDE EDITOR
MINISTERS have been urged to order police protection
for fishing competitions because of the anti-angling campaign
being waged by animal rights activists.
Angling groups, representing more than two million
enthusiasts, are appealing to Kate Hoey, the Sports Minister,
to help to save their sport from the threat of militants. Some
leading figures in the angling world have been subjected to
personal threats and intimidation, but last night asked not to
be named to prevent further attacks.
The angling lobby has been mobilised after discovering
an Internet website instructing activists to disrupt angling
competitions. They have also been incensed by new literature
sent to schools telling children that angling is cruel and
urging them not to eat fish.
Ms Hoey is shortly to receive a report from the Angling
Trades Association, which acts for all tackle manufacturers
and retailers, on behalf of the sport setting out the problems
for angling if MPs vote for a hunting ban. The need for
competitions to be fully policed and for police forces to
share information about angling saboteurs are high among the
priorities.
There is also concern about the security of events to
mark next month's National Fishing Week and other promotional
activities to encourage young people to take up the sport.
One angling source said: "We are absolutely certain if
there is a ban on hunting, it will open a Pandora's box and
we can see anti-everything else coming out of the woodwork."
A high-level meeting to discuss ways of countering the
threat to the sport was held on Friday at the Countryside
Alliance headquarters in London.
The group, which included representatives of the
National Federation of Angling, the Salmon and Trout
Association, and the Specialist Anglers Conservation Group
decided to hit back by compiling its own pack for schools
and by setting up its own website.
Charles Jardine, director of the alliance's campaign
for angling, said last night: "We are all worried about the
direct action against the sport and are concerned these
activists will step up their activities and resort to more
physical tactics to stop angling. The problem we have is
that angling is an isolationist sport and people are often
on their own on riverbanks."
Tony Blair has insisted he will not allow any threat
to angling or shooting while he is Prime Minister. But Mr
Jardine is sceptical about Labour's commitment. "The animal
rights groups have an agenda and they will push it for all
their worth. We may have support from ministers now, but
how tenacious is it when push comes to shove?"
The anti-angling activities are being co-ordinated by
the Campaign for the Abolition of Angling (CAA), an American
charity in South London, and People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals (PETA).
Both are known to have links with hunt saboteur groups,
but the main animal welfare organisations calling for a ban
on hunting - such as the League Against Cruel Sports - deny
any involvement with the anti-angling campaign.
Max Gastone, for the CAA, says he believes angling will
have disappeared within 20 years. He said last night he had
thousands of supporters, and that if he could boost the
numbers even further he was confident the Government would
support them. He admitted that the campaign involved going
into schools and taking direct action to disrupt competition.
"We will do everything we can to end this blood sport." Toni
Vernelli, PETA's campaign co-ordinator, said that, when the
public understood the cruelty of angling, they would join the
movement to ban it. "Hooking is bound to cause pain, and when
fish are pulled out of the water they begin to suffocate to
death."
She said they intended to step up their anti-angling
campaign throughout the summer and admitted that she had been
behind the Pisces pack for schools which even included a
cartoon of a fish saying: "Would you like to be hooked,
dragged under water and held there for several minutes?"
Angling is the largest participatory sport, with up
to six million adherents. The biggest group is of coarse
anglers whose season started a few weeks ago. Coarse anglers
compete in weekend matches which saboteurs have attempted to
halt. There are also 650,000 fly fishermen fishing for trout
and salmon. A stretch on top-grade salmon rivers can fetch
L1 million.
--
We're laughing at these nutters now, but will we be in 20
years time I wonder?
Old American proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him
for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can sell him
fishing equipment."
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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