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Hook, line and thinker - Angling & Ethics

Reviewed by Terry Lawton

Sitting round a fire with a cup of coffee and a whisky enjoying the twilight of an Arctic summer night, is probably as good a place as any to discuss angling behaviour and ethics. Whilst we didn't reach any firm conclusions, the conversation set me thinking and so it was opportune that I found a copy of Alexander Schwab's challenging and thought-provoking book, hook, line and thinker Angling & Ethics, waiting to be read and reviewed. I'll start my review with two quotes that set the tone:

"Implementation of animal rights means the end of fishing. Don't be lulled into thinking that ethics is of no importance to angling! Your angling stands or falls with it – fish and think!"

"The animal rights movement has gathered such momentum and influence that it has the ear of governmental circles all over Europe and the United States."

The argument as to whether or not fish do – or can – feel pain continues to run and Schwab has plenty to say on this contentious topic: "Fish certainly don't experience . . . . the agony of deep wounds as inflicted by cormorants, seals or other fish. An injury like that would cause a human to faint with pain. The fish doesn't faint, (but) it tries to and often does survive – with a human pain experience it wouldn't."

In some respects this book is not the easiest of books to read as the flow of the text is interrupted by all the quotes and extracts from books and articles published in magazines and on websites, all of which are referenced meticulously. I've fallen into the same trap but there are lots of important things to quote. For example: "Anti-anglers are, as we have seen, not really interested in fish at all. Anglers are, and that is why there are still fish in rivers and lakes.", and "There is pleasure in all types of angling. This pleasure is in every respect legitimate, for there is no cruelty involved."

In a book that has the potential to play a vital role in the support of angling in the face of "the seductive power of these (animal rights) ideas", one can overlook some of the short-comings of the writing – too many adverbs in front of verbs and a certain over-enthusiasm for exclamation marks, for example. I do hope that all those anglers who still think that we have nothing to worry about and that they should (in the UK at least) have nothing to do with those nasty blood thirsty people who hunt with "dogs", will read this book and understand why they are so wrong. If the animal rights movement succeeds in achieving only a part of its many aims as detailed in this book, that is a truly frightening prospect.

Alexander Schwab grew up in and lives in Switzerland where he fishes on Lake Thun. He has a Masters degree in Philosophy and History at Aberdeen University. He forages for mushrooms, cooks, enjoys exploring the countryside and reading poetry, when not fishing.

To end with yet another quote: "There is nothing wrong with fishing. Fishing is good." United we stand, divided we fall. "Hook, line and thinker - Angling & Ethics" by Alexander Schwab is published by Merlin Unwin Books in hardback at £17.99. 224 pages.




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