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Maruyku Feed Pellets?

Yeah. Nothing must stop us from getting what we want, even a few hundred thousand, er, fish.............
 
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David Gauntlett said:
Hi Paul,

Assuming I have interpreted your usual cryptic ramblings correctly, I take it you object to fishmeal pellets being used by anglers?

Cheers, Dave.
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No. Not Bootean "cryptic ramblings", but yet another wake-up call to the self-deceiving. Can't carry on for too much longer, you know.
 
we will have to go back to caster, sweetcorn, worms,maggots and bread, sounds good to me.
 
Maybe Paul thinks that the Marukyu pellets could contain whale fins or whale meal?????
 
Hi Paul,

I do sympathise with your thinking on this, and agree with you that the rate the oceans are being raped to turn anything that swims into fishmeal is a disgrace...and of course you are right, it can't go on indefinitely. There is no way of disputing that.

However, when you consider the huge worldwise industries that are consuming millions of tons of this product annually, for everything from aquaculture to human foodstuffs (and lord knows what else) the amount we anglers use is literally less than a drop in the ocean, if you will excuse the pun.

Now, before you get too agitated, I do admit that that is a pretty flawed argument, but I swear, hand on heart, that if I truly thought for one second that anything I (or indeed all the other anglers in the whole of the UK combined) could do to stop this madness, then I would do it.

However, you and I both know that if we anglers did all stop using fishmeal for angling purposes tomorrow, it would make no measurable difference to worldwide consumption. The equally insane Palm oil issue, the lunacy of rain forest destruction to raise cattle for 'Big Mac's' etc., the inventive denials of global warming...and take your pick of any number of similar sickening issues, are all pointers (not that we need yet more proof :rolleyes:) that big business, not governments, now runs the world.

If you have any workable ideas that may affect that fact, then I will listen...gladly. In the meantime, I will carry on trying, in my admittedly slightly head-in-the-sand way, to scratch what meagre crumbs of pleasure I can, as efficiently as my modest skills will allow, from the one passionately enjoyed hobby that I have left to me.

Hmmm...having read that myself, I can't quite work out whether that is a defeatist attitude, or just me being a realist. Over to you fella :D

Cheers, Dave.
 
Paul Boote said:
Workable ideas?

My life-long one to start with: never buy into a pile of poo, and, by doing so, add to it.
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Hi Paul,

A nice simple answer there dear chap, and sentiments that are unassailable....undeniably the moral high ground, and all that stuff. But...are you really that altruistic Paul? Do you really stick rigidly to that ethic in all things? Or are you, like most of us, a little selective in your application?

I am not actually accusing you of such duplicity fella, because I can't...I don't know you, other than as a fellow member of this forum. However, 66 years of observation and a regrettably large catalogue of bitter lessons learned has left me....shall we say, a little cynical at times?

I have a friend whom I have known and fished with for many years, although we both fish far less now than we once did. This guy is highly intelligent, very successful in the 'big smoke', pin stripe kind of way, and like many people of high intellect, very self opinionated. It is his unshakable belief that there is only one right way of doing virtually anything...his way. Obviously, this rather blinkered attitude extends into his hobby, and nothing delights him more than to sit on the river bank rummaging through my tackle bag, ridiculing out of hand anything he comes across that he personally has no experience OR understanding of :rolleyes:

The reason I mention this guy is that he views all pellets and boilies and such likes as works of the devil....if it isn't labelled spam or something pretty damned close to that, then it is an unfair abomination...and you are a cad for using it. And yes...he would happily claim the moral high ground because it strengthened his argument so beautifully.

Thing is though...he didn't actually give a toss about the moral issue really you see. The true reason he ranted on about them was that they didn't fit his rigid template of how barbel fishing should be...and so he utterly despised them.

Now, I have no idea if that particular cap even comes close to fitting on your head Paul, in fact I would be genuinely disappointed if it did.

However (there is always a however, isn't there:D)...in order to help you to avoid living in glass houses and inadvisably throwing stones....shall I list some of the more...unusual (to the uninitiated) birds and furry critters that are sacrificed in the name of your other favourite hobby of fly tying? Of course, I have no doubt that you only use farmed birds....but still....

And lastly (huge collective sigh)...and in the same vein...the insanity of global deforestation. Do you make sure you stear clear of any products containing palm oil Paul? Do you also avoid all products that were produced on the devastatingly short lived farms and ranches that the poor soil of deforested lands provide? Because you really should you know, if you are going to verbally chastise myself and others for using fishmeal products. Global deforestation is, as you know, potentially even more ecologically damaging than fishmeal production.

Oh yes...nearly forgot...if in fact you ARE genuinely true to your stated ethic, and tread the straight and narrow unfailingly...then deep respect to you Paul, you are a far better man than I will ever be.

Cheers, Dave
 
Mindful consumerism.... It's a great idea but so difficult to live up to!

Personally I'm not too happy about the fact that supermarkets have destroyed the family businesses that were the backbone of our towns and cities, but when I need to go shopping on a Sunday, I have no alternative to using supermarkets as the other shops are all closed down. Now there's a dilema!

I'm also 100% pro eating organic, but I'm skint and a bag full of stuff from Lidl costs me a tenner, whereas the same stuff from the organic shop will cost £30. So is politically correct consumerism the preserve of the wealthy?.... probably it is?!!!.... so I'm gonna have to think very deeply about the socio/politcal implications of that?

Then there's the traveling and petrol usage (global warming), I can walk over to Lidl, as I can see it from my house, alturnatively I have to drive to the organic shop and burn polluting petrol doing so. Now there's a dilemma? In fact I use my car a fair bit really, particularly as my girlfriend lives in Yorkshire. I confess that I drive up to see her, whereas if I cared that much about global warming, which actually I really do, I should go on the train. There again it will take me ages on the train (with three changes) and cost me very deeply in the purse too... and I'll not be able to take my fishing tackle or my work with me.... so I drive and pollute the air and feel bad about it.... but I just downsized my car so that's something! If I were really conscious about this, perhaps I should dump my girlfriend and get a local girl instead?

Then there's the question of what's in my shopping, I'm not keen on the idea of genetically modifying everything, because in life I've observed that if something can go wrong it probably will, and despite man's efforts at being above nature, in fact we are ruled by it in every way.... so I do my best to avoid GM products but they are in everything and therefore I must read every word on every label to make sure it's all GM free, but then half the time the writings too small and I'm always forgetting to take my glasses. I really must try harder!

Then there's the question of where the stuff I'm buying is grown, produced, or manufactured?..... With Israel's inhumane actions in Palestine, I try to avoid supporting them by buying products from that country, in exactly the same way that I used to avoid buying products from apartheid South Africa. Then there's China to take into consideration, tricky one that as they manufacture so many things but I am appalled by their human rights record and what they are doing in Tibet is monstrous, and I love the Tibetans, so I avoid buying Chinese products. I don't eat whales, never once did, but does that mean I should stop buying anything produced in Japan?.... perhaps it does? I've always tried to be politically aware when consuming and in my banking too. I even closed my Barkleys Bank account back in the 80's, due to their involvement in South Africa. Also I do try to avoid consuming palm oil, in order to save the rain forests, but again it's everywhere from chocolate to margarine and beyond! Regarding using timber from the rain forests..... I've been wondering for ages whether I should replace my mahogany toilet seat with a sustainably grown pine one, but I can't work out what to do with the mahogany one if I replace it!

And then there's the issue of mankind's raping the sea. I've stopped eating tuna (mostly) because whatever the label on the tin says about it being 'dolphin friendly' how do I know it is. After all I've not seen any labels saying 'dolphin unfriendly"? In fact, regarding fish, my Doctors tells me to eat it regularly because its good for me, and I do. In fact I adore eating it! But I look at the fishmongers slabs nowadays and half the stuff is farmed or flown half-way, or even all the way around to world to get here. It seems the sea fish we eat are already virtually wiped out and we all know how polluting fish farming can be. So perhaps I shouldn't eat fish at all? Indeed next time I catch a decent bass (if ever I catch I decent bass), I'll have a personal crisis about whether I should eat it or put it back?

Then there's the question of eating meat?.... well let's face it, eating meat is cruel and we all disapprove of animal cruelty and meat production is also so wasteful as it requires far more land than growing the equivalent in vegetable protein (at least that's what the vegetarian handbooks tell me). They don't tell me anything about what to do with all the land in North Wales and Scotland, etc. that is unsuitable for vegetable production? My girlfriend is a vegetarian because she loves animals, she really does too! But I tell her that if she loves animals so much, she should give up dairy products too, as well as wool and leather, because its all part of the same cruel and wasteful industry. But she adores cheese and cannot make that leap! Perhaps I should boycott her for being a hypocrite, but, being so Goddamn sexy, woman have a way of getting the best of you..... ever since Eve, I guess. And I'm all for woman having a right to choose!

And what about eggs?.... I'll go for free-range every time. In fact I'll get them from a local smallholding ideally because they taste so good. Recently it crossed my mind, however, where are all these free-range eggs coming from because I never see any free-range egg farms anywhere..... so are we being conned and does it really matter because what came first, the free-range chicken or the free-range egg. My guess is that it was probably the free-range cockerel as some things never change!

I'm also really keen on re-cycling, always have been.... and always hated litter! But whenever I'm washing out my empty jars and bottles, I start weighing up the pros and cons of the extra amount of hot water I am using and pouring down the drain. Our water comes directly from the river Wensum you see (abstracted out of it, I mean), and I see how over-abstracted it has become, and, having spent almost 30 years battling with the EA and their predecessors over the state of that river, I worry deeply about this. Even worse, perhaps, my waste water and sewage goes (after being treated) into the Broads. They are suffering terribly from eutrophication from household phosphates flushed down our drains, and I hate to add to that, so I use Ecover products whenever I can. And of course I'm glad to pay extra for the privilege of doing so!

Then there's my fishing. Well of course I've thought long and hard about that... the ethics I mean... such as cruelty, and barbed hooks, not to mention keepnets and overstocking? And now there's the question of my using fishmeal products and all the destruction that goes with that. Guess what?... I've also considered this.... but the truth is I need to look further into the matter? Perhaps I should use maggots instead, like I do for tench, but what are those maggots being fed on?..... and who is producing them? Here in Norfolk there's a maggot breeder called Roy Webster who is also the local angling journalist and he regularly writes inflammatory anti-pike garbage, blaming them for everything?... so I won't buy his maggots. I could use bread I suppose, but the best bread for fishing is that truly horrible mass-produced sliced white stuff that is barely fit for human consumption and probably GM too.

One thing I do know is that PC consumerism is a minefield..... I also know that a few glib words are easy to write! Even so, I applaud Paul for his stance on the matter..... though I've now got a headache and need to go back to bed!
 
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You at least have to try - make a stand on some things - guys, otherwise your life is spent whining about the world / country having gone to the dogs etc, reading the Daily Mail and Telegraph (and, worse, believing them) and spending huge amounts of Internut time articulating your many discontents about things ("which are no fault of mine, and, besides, you can't do anything to stop them anyway..."). I happen to be a non-holier-than-thou tryer, not a "we're effed anyway" whiner.
 
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Absolutely. Nothing must stand in the way of Agri-Business.

Just think what would have happened if some blasted bureaucrats (who we know to be a bunch of public sector pen-pushers and gold-plated-pension collectors) had been allowed to prevent those far-seeing aquaculturist-entrepreneurs from importing Signal crayfish thirty years ago...
 
In the short term GM could keep several billion people alive, but in the long term, when several billion more have been added to the world population as a result of a "science can feed everybody" plus continuous economic growth mindset, and the natural world - forests, waters, atmosphere - destroyed as a result, only a massive dying off of human beings plus vertical farming with hydroponics - http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/29/vertical-farms-urban-food - will keep the human race alive (on Earth, at least). Thank God I won't be around, as the world in which those people will be living won't be worth living in - existing in, yes, but not living as we know it.

"It's life, Jim, but not as we know it."
 
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