So yesterday I was sitting at my manicurist's table...and yes...she is Chinese. As it turns out...she is also a buddist.
So my hands are pretty beat up from the fish, the gill rakers, ect., and I decided that I needed some beautiful ballerina pink nails to make me feel like a woman again. 10 days in the wilderness with no bath can make a girl feel kind of hairy...lol :)
Anyways...I was sitting and talking with my manicurist and she asks me where I have been that my hands and nails are so beat up. I say I have been fishing. She says...To eat?
I say no...for sport!!! OMG...I had no idea what was coming next. I quote:
"You get cancer from this. You get lip cancer or gum cancer because you fish to just hurt the fish. You do not eat the fish and so Buddha says that you get hurt because you hurt to hurt."
I felt horrible. I began thinking, "did I hurt to just hurt?" I did not think this was my reason for fishing. I have a dog that I rescued...I volunteer at the animal shelters...I do not want to hurt animals. This has been bugging me.
I do not want to hurt these beautiful creatures. I fish because I feel at one with nature when I do...like nothing in the world matters but me and my rod. The most important decision I make is what lure is going to be the best and there is some simple enjoyment in that decision. I want to preserve the outdoors and the blessings that one finds there. I want for all people to understand that I love animals and that I do not want to hurt to just hurt. I want to be one with nature. I want to experience once in a lifetime experiences....and I really want one of those experiences to be a world record fish from the depths of the ocean or the lake or the river.
I do not think this makes me a bad person. I do not think that I will get lip or gum cancer from partaking in the sport of fishing...but just the same...I would like your thoughts!!!
Happy Commenting ~
LIZZY aka The Fisherbabe
Hi Lizzy, great post and I feel your concern. You know you are a good person and you also know that you are there not to hurt anyone or anything,the fish. Fish feel no pain so it has been said with debate. You get lip cancer from chewing tabaco NOT fishing. So keep doing what you love to do and keep the passion level high, the good lord is smiling down on you.
ReplyDelete~Mike
Think about it for a second, Lizzie - if everyone who fished developed mouth cancer, there would be MILLIONS of facially deformed people walking the streets.
ReplyDeleteThe Buddhist faith certainly preaches a non-violent existance, and that's fine. I don't ever do anything to purposefuly inflict excessive pain on anything. One point that could be made, and it has a few good parts to it, is the use of barbless hooks. Many fly fishermen fish barbless because a lot of special reg waters require it. Many of the camps in northern Canada require all barbs on all hooks to be pinched down - the ones I go to have this regulation. I've never noticed that I've landed fewer fish with a barbless hook, and unhooking any fish with a barbless hook is a breeze. The secondary benefit to barbless hooks - if you get a thrashing fish - a big pike, maybe - and you get a big hook impaled through the meat of your hand or arm, you'll be very happy the barb was pinched down!!
You could always ask the fish. Do you want to die or shall I throw you back? I think the answer is pretty clear.
ReplyDeleteTight lines
Lizzy,
ReplyDeleteThe buddhist faith encourages everyone to do what they can to bring about cessation of suffering. While the experience of being caught may temporarily catch a fish by surprise, in the long run, I feel that the benefits that you, me, or anyone else gains from fishing far outweighs any distress caused to a caught & released fish (who probably cant even remember it happened after 5 minutes in the water).
For people like us, fishing is more than just a hobby, its what we turn to in times of stress and trouble to help melt away the cares of life and get in touch with nature. Fishing is our therapy, it gives us something to work at and better ourselves in a way that we enjoy. If taking time out of our lives to reconnect with nature isn't in line with the buddhist notions of right action and cessation of suffering, well I dont know what is.
You could have asked her what her fellow chinese buddhists were thinking when they introduced the snakehead to our waters. That would have got her. :P
Seriously, though, dont question something as important to you...as right...to you...as fishing...just because some self-righteous bystander questions it.
Thanks for all your comments guys!!! I am feeling better about it all now...just stunned me for a minute...lol :)
ReplyDeleteYou'll only get lip or gum cancer from catch-and-release fishing if you chew tobacco while doing it.
ReplyDeleteYes I just read an article about fish and pain...and it is said that they can't really distinguish pain. We both know that they don't get hurt too much either. They are able to swim right off after a few moments in the water. Besides that, you aren't fishing to hurt them. If that was your intention then Buddha might apply to you. It's not though so don't feel a darn bit guilty! Fish are tasty to eat though :P
ReplyDelete