Stupid River Monsters!!

[The Chairman]

The urban legends are amazing in this department. I routinely get this picture from my Fishing buddies, claiming it to be a man eating catfish caught in a Chinese reservoir.

Here's another...

And another...

 

[Arubandi07]

Sorry to say, but when Steve Irvin was killed by a stingray back then, my first thought was "good, finally payback time, wonder what kind of stupid stunt he perpetrated this time..."

 

[ACT651755]

The urban legends are amazing in this department. I routinely get this picture from my Fishing buddies, claiming it to be a man eating catfish caught in a Chinese reservoir.

That makes me cringe and feel extremely angry all in one go!!

Fishermen are the thickest species on this planet. They are not of the same species as I.

 

[The Chairman]

That makes me cringe and feel extremely angry all in one go!!

Fishermen are the thickest species on this planet. They are not of the same species as I.

Funny thing about that bias of yours... I fish and spear. I have fun when I do it and enjoy the results of my efforts. I also serve on the National Committee for Fishing for the BSA. I guess then that you are a strict vegetarian. If not, I marvel at the hypocrisy.

 

[smellzlikefish]

I'll jump, once again, smack in the middle of an issue on this forum by saying that I agree with both Netdoc and Act. On the one hand, I have been in countless arguments with fishermen that refuse to admit that overfishing is a problem. It is like talking statistics to a wall; no matter what you say, the wall simply stands there. As a group, fishermen tend to be very dense and clump together around ignorant and unsubstantiated views. I believe the phrase here is ad absurdum.

I also eat fish and am quick to realize (read: hope) that there are sustainable fisheries and aquaculture facilities out there to support. I used to fish but have since stopped when I moved to Oahu and saw the ecosystem had already been fished down. Instead of the predators that are seen as trophies elsewhere, people have resorted to fishing for convict tangs and parrotfish because they rationalize they they are "so tasty" when really they are all that's left. Were I back in an area with a population of fish that could be caught sustainably, I'd get out the rod and reel again.

 

[JDiver56]

There's hunting and fishing, and then there's what passes for same: Spearfishing for one's food, a sustainable species and not wasting, it's pretty much a primordial human endeavor modified to today's reality. "Spearfishing" a pair of friendly wolf eels in Monterey Bay and tossing their bodies in a dumpster, moronic stupidity. Fishing sustainably, adding to the world's protein supply; government subsidized mega-trawlers tearing through the coral and other life-sustaining bottom, moronic cupidity. Wild caught Alaska salmon, yummy and responsibly caught; "Chilean sea bass" (actually Patagonian toothfish), unless from South Georgia islands, a falsely marketed and unsustainable fish that takes ages to reproduce, moronic and avaricious.

These days, I "hunt" with a camera, but if others choose to hunt or fish - as long as they are doing so responsibly, unless I become vegan, I would feel hypocritical remonstrating. What we need to be aware of is that some species are in danger, and with others, if we "trophyize" our hunt, we kill off those best able to reproduce and add to the species pool (e.g. groupers).

 

[Matt83]

If you are going to get angry about every show the media portrays sharks as dangerous "Maneaters" I recommend you don't watch sharkweek either!