Bruce in West Oz
New member
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>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 (sic) 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 £1 million.[/quote]
Sound familiar??? I urge you to circulate this to any fishing groups/websites/friends you may know -- because it's the UK now (and Australia to a lesser extent), and then -- if they succeed -- you're next. And I don't think fishing is covered by the 2nd Amendment!
B
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 (sic) 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 £1 million.[/quote]
Sound familiar??? I urge you to circulate this to any fishing groups/websites/friends you may know -- because it's the UK now (and Australia to a lesser extent), and then -- if they succeed -- you're next. And I don't think fishing is covered by the 2nd Amendment!
B
