It almost looks like a piercing. There was no way to catch the fish and remove it but it seemed to be doing alright.
this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025
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How about not putting any hooks into fish in the first place?
Normalizing doing recreational activities in the least impactful way benefits nature in the short term when people who care go out to enjoy it, but also I the long term as those people spread the new normal in the hobby. 20 years ago you'd be laughed off the beach for using a barbless hook, but i've witnessed seasoned fishermen in the past few years showing tourists how to cut the barbs off their hooks and release fish without harming them.
So yes, it would be better for the earth in general if humans weren't here, but we are, and so we need to learn how to be here and lessen our impact at the same time, not by denying ourselves our humanity, but by improving what it means to be human.
Just sitting by the water and watching fish without harming them is a much less impactful recreational activity than hurting fish just to look at them, then throwing them back in the water. And it is not denying anyone's humanity, actually quite the opposite.
And people have done it for thousands of years and likely will continue to do so. Given that fact, I'd rather them do it in a sustainable way, wouldn't you?
Yes. Every improvement is good. But I think it’s important not to forget, and to also remind people, that there are even better alternatives, and questioning something that people have "always" done is actually possible. Social values are constantly evolving, and in my opinion we should move towards de-normalizing hurting animals. They are sentient beings, and causing them suffering for our own entertainment should be discouraged.
Fish that are caught and released often die within a week. These are methods of reducing the EMOTIONAL HARM that the abuser experiences associated with their abuse of animals. Fuck that shit.