Will fishing become a crime?

Scottish anglers could soon face legal action for routine fishing practices under controversial proposals from a Scottish Government commission that seeks to bring fish under the same legal protections as other animals.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) has recommended scrapping the current legal exemption that protects the “normal course of fishing” following 2022 legislation recognising fish as sentient beings.

The commission identifies “tissue trauma from hooks, abrasions and stress from nets” as welfare concerns. It argues that fish should be counted as “sentient individuals” rather than by weight.

What would new fish welfare laws mean for anglers?

Kirk Norbury of Country Sport Scotland warns the recommendations could expose anglers to legal challenges for “normal and accepted fishing practices such as casting, landing, handling fish, using a net, and releasing them safely”.

Ironically, the commission’s concerns about fish welfare also highlight contradictions in existing regulations. Current rules prevent salmon anglers from humanely dispatching deeply hooked or bleeding fish, forcing a far crueller outcome.

“What is truly unacceptable is that salmon anglers are told that if a fish is deeply hooked or bleeding, they are not permitted to humanely dispatch it. Instead, they must release it to float downstream, dying a slow death,” said Trout & Salmon editor Andrew Flitcroft.

The Editor argues that anglers already lead on fish welfare. “Anglers care more about fish than anyone else,” he said, citing “great strides over the past decades in conservation and improved welfare” through education, self‑regulation and peer pressure.

The Scottish Government said it will consider the recommendations “in due course”. It also noted the economic importance of angling.

You can read the full SAWC report, Ascribing Sentience to Fish, at gov.scot.

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