Aquatic Life Institute in French newspaper "Le Monde"
The practice of live bait fishing is no longer in accordance with the law
A group of researchers and members of associations is calling for a ban on the use of live fish as bait in recreational fishing. In addition to the cruelty of this practice, it would pose serious threats to biodiversity through the introduction of exotic species or the spread of viruses.
Several French local authorities are finally opening the debate on the ban on live fishing. This technique involves impaling a small live fish on a hook in order to attract a predator. The animal, pierced alive, panics with no possible outcome and struggles for tens of minutes, before succumbing to its wound or being eaten alive.
The ability of fish to subjectively perceive the world around them, and more particularly to experience emotions, stress and suffering, has been better and better documented in recent years.
Lynne Sneddon, world reference for research on pain in fish, concludes in a review published in 2020: “Studies show that fish have a nociceptive system similar to that of mammals, that their behavior is negatively affected [ by pain ], and that this is avoided by inoculation of painkillers. This shows that fish react differently to pain and harmless stimuli. In addition, fish try to avoid areas where they have felt pain and are so gripped by pain that they no longer normally manifest their fear or normal reactions to predators. Taken together, these results make a compelling case for pain sensitivity in fish."
Minimize the pain
This sensitivity to pain is even today recognized by the European Food Safety Authority ( EFSA ). Other institutions, such as the World Organization for Animal Health ( OIE ) and the Association of British Veterinarians ( BVA ) have established recommendations for minimizing the pain of fish used in human activities.
The use of a fully conscious fish as bait is starting to stir up public opinion. If lure fishing is a well established alternative, live fishing remains anchored among the oldest or among specialists in catfish fishing. This leisure practice is already prohibited in several countries such as Luxembourg, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, certain autonomous communities of Spain, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and in certain American states in Canada.
These foreign bans are not based solely on the cruelty of this practice, but also on the unnecessary threats it poses to aquatic biodiversity.
By using farmed fish as live or by using wild fish from another body of water, we run the risk of infected live animals transmitting their pathogens. A 2012 American study investigated the prevalence of viral infections in baitfish traders: 44% of the batches tested carried one or more viruses, and 39 different viruses were identified among the 4,318 fish studied.
Invasive alien species
For the authors, "it is likely that viral transmission to populations of wild fish is imminent, and the consequences could be disastrous . "They further say they are certain that "the nature of the sales, imports, and uses of baitfish directly contributes to the increased transmission of viruses."
Some species commonly used as live are listed in the annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1251/2008 of 12 December 2008, as being potentially vectors of diseases for fish populations, and cases of transmission of parasites via live animals. rearing or the water used to transport live animals have already been documented (Ovilplistophora ovariae parasite in the United States).
On the other hand, live fishing is also a route for the introduction and spread of invasive alien species that can harm biodiversity. Thus, problems of biological invasion linked to this practice are current in certain French high-altitude lakes (Pyrenees National Park), and live fishing is one of the supposed causes of the introduction of several dozen species that have occurred. established outside their original range in the United States.
Today, fish intended for this hobby can be bought in big names such as Decathlon, between a pair of boots and a raincoat. After purchase, they can be kept in captivity for several days before being used as bait. From their intensive farming to the store, to the buyer and then to their place of use, live fish are transported under extremely stressful conditions that do not meet their needs: small volume and poor water quality, poor environment, high density, hunger…
Serious abuse
From a legal point of view, there is equality between fish and other vertebrates, as sentient animals. However, the rural and maritime fishing code recognizes the animal as a sensitive being, which must be placed by its owner in conditions compatible with the biological requirements of its species. In particular, it prohibits “the use, except in cases of absolute necessity (…), of any mode of detention unsuitable for the species in question or likely to cause injury and suffering” .
The penal code, for its part, prohibits the exercise of serious abuse, ill-treatment or acts of cruelty towards domestic animals and wild animals tamed or held in captivity. In the presence of a multitude of lures that can replace the use of live fish as bait, the practice of live fishing is no longer in accordance with the law.
Fortunately, the trend is towards better recognition of animal sensibility, including fish, and the interpretation of these laws may soon change. A European resolution addressed to the European Commission, adopted by the National Assembly, “suggests integrating, in the European regulation on the common fisheries policy, elements relating to the welfare of fish from commercial fishing, in particular recognition of the sensitivity of the animals caught, the obligation to avoid avoidable suffering inflicted on animals in the course of fishing, (and) the prohibition of the use of susceptible animals as live bait”.
We therefore call for live fishing, deemed too cruel by our deputies to be maintained in a commercial context, to be prohibited in the context of leisure.