RE: Colonial legacy-angling cruelty

[Guest guest]

Of course we should. Fish feel pain just as other animals do and we delude

ourselves

if we think to the contrary.

 

However, there is no use blaming our favorite whipping boy, Britain,

I am sure we had angling in India prior to their arrival even if it was not

looked upon as a

" sport "

..

 

S. Chinny Krishna

 

AG BABU [agbabu]

Sunday, June 21, 2009 5:20 AM

AAPN List; Dr.Chinny Krishna

Cc: Maneka Gandhi

Colonial legacy-angling cruelty

 

 

Shall we stop promoting this sort of 'fishy tourist attractions'

 

 

 

 

Angling continues to attract tourists to Munnar

 

 

Giji K. Raman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trout caught by J.F.R. Brady in 1966 weighed nearly 4 kg. — File photo

 

KATTAPPANA: It has been 100 years since Britishers introduced trout fish

to Munnar but it continues to be a major attraction for foreigners who

prefer to go for angling in the streams near Anaimudy.

 

Angling was the favourite pastime of British tea planters, and so they

shipped trout from the Sterling Share hatchery via the erstwhile Bombay in

specially made barrels in 1909. Then they set up a small hatchery at

Chenduvarai near Munnar. The trout is a freshwater fish known for its

ability to survive in high altitudes and low temperatures.

 

“Still some foreigners, especially those relatives and the decedents of

the erstwhile Britishers enquire about the details of the pastime activities

in the past and some of them are keen to spend or fishing the trout,” said

an official of the Kanan Devan Tea Company Ltd.

 

A well-maintained hatchery for trout functions near the Rajamala range,

and foreigners especially from the UK still make it a point to go for

angling trout fish while visiting Munnar. “We have added angling of trout as

part of the itinerary in tourism packages as it is allowed mainly in the

Devikulam Lake,” he said.

 

In angling, it is not important whether one catches a fish or not. Two

years ago, a UK national arrived in Munnar and surprised one and all with

his skills in angling. But each time he caught a trout fish, he threw it

back. He told the local people that he was an environmentalist and did not

intend to harm the fish.

 

However, angling is yet to catch up among the domestic tourists. There is

still the High Range Angling Association functioning under the Tata Company

in Munnar. In the book Facets of Hundred Years’ Planting, an in-house

publication of Tata-Finlay Ltd., there are details and a photograph of the

largest trout caught by a Britisher J.F.R. Brady in 1966 from Mattupetty

dam.

 

It weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounce, says the book written by Britishers, that

traces the history of Munnar. Unfortunately, after the 1970s, no trout above

five pounds has been caught in Munnar