There’s a great article about soldiers fishing in Iraq over at the ESPN site:
Fishing Saddam’s Waters
Excerpt:
“We’ve heard that Saddam only allowed his family (tribe) to fish these lakes. All others (caught fishing) were put in jail. When Palace Lake was drained (searching for weapons), they found over a hundred dead bodies in the lake.” (No wonder the fish were big!)
All of the soldiers interviewed said they didn’t eat what they caught – bodies aside, I can understand that sentiment. Adam and I have been fishing the murky waters of our local river, where we never see anyone fishing. When people see us, they invariably ask: 1. what we can catch there and 2. if it’s good to eat. Japanese fishing is so single-minded!
We don’t target yummy species because we just want to enjoy fishing for the sake of fishing. It’s a self-fulfilling luxury provided by the advent of supermarkets, ya know?