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the man who wants every zander dead


mark barrett

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The main letter in tonight's Peterborough Evening Telegraph is from John Knowles of the Peterborough Hunt Saboteurs. It is headed, "Angler's story sounds a bit fishy".

 

It states:

"This 79-year-old gentleman was spotted staking down a fishing line in the region of Holme Fen, a very bleak and sparsely populated area.

He then claimed to have done it to generate publicity for the culling (killing) of cormorants and zander (fish), which he claims have caused a fall in the population of native coarse fish.

If he really wanted to make his point, he would have staked out a line on the embankment at Peterborough, or somewhere similar, and invited Angling Times along to encourage publicity and debate".

He goes on to say how mink and coypu were first released by fur farmers when sales dropped in the 1950s. This could well be true, although he conveniently omits a mention of the ones released by the more misguided and extreme elements of the "animal welfare" lobby. Even so, his interpretation of Collin's pathetic excuse is spot on. Thankfully, the paper didn't print letters of support from some of the hardcore Fen rednecks, who are probably still bashing big pike on the head if they think nobody is looking.

 

[ 08. March 2004, 08:23 PM: Message edited by: Peter Sharpe ]

English as tuppence, changing yet changeless as canal water, nestling in green nowhere, armoured and effete, bold flag-bearer, lotus-fed Miss Havishambling, opsimath and eremite, feudal, still reactionary, Rawlinson End.

 

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It is harmless enough in some respects. I wasn't trying to make a point, except to show that a hunt saboteur had been paying attention, and had picked up on the salient points that most of us are also trying to get across.

English as tuppence, changing yet changeless as canal water, nestling in green nowhere, armoured and effete, bold flag-bearer, lotus-fed Miss Havishambling, opsimath and eremite, feudal, still reactionary, Rawlinson End.

 

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Oddly enough, although the Collins issue initiated the letter, the main point of it seemed to be damning the fur farmers who released environmentally damaging animals when the fur trade dipped in the 1970s. That doesn't quite make sense to me though, as even if the price of pelts plummeted, I'm sure they would have sold them for a low price rather than just releasing the stock into the wild. He may have been trying to compare the release of zander to that of mink, which is a fair point to make, except that mink are capable of occupying the predatory niche of a whole range of animals, in the water, on the land and up in the trees.

English as tuppence, changing yet changeless as canal water, nestling in green nowhere, armoured and effete, bold flag-bearer, lotus-fed Miss Havishambling, opsimath and eremite, feudal, still reactionary, Rawlinson End.

 

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