At the bottom of Mr. Boese's article were instructions for posting comments on the article, hence this post.

With all due respect to Mr. Boese's qualifications, I have found his articles in the past to be largely uniformative, but that's just my opinion. Others may have a different viewpoint, so I usually just pass over them. But his latest article was so full of mis-information, inuendo, conjecture and just plain mean-spiritedness, that I feel I must comment, lest some unsuspecting person accept it as a 'fact'.

First off, I would've thought that cheap name-calling would be beneath an attorney. Referirng to persons with differing viewpoints as 'pinkos', 'Bunny-Kissers', 'Tree huggers', and charactarizing them as Communist Sympathyzers is not conducive to a professionally written article. I found the name calling to be mildly offensive. I am not fond of PETA, and similar organizations either, but I can do better than just calling them names. Secondly, maybe they have never used Deer Tags in his part of the world, but for the rest of us, Deer-Tags have always been the rule of Law, at least in my (considerable) lifetime. I've never hunted anywhere in the US where a Deer-Tag was not required, ever. And dog, and cock fights have never been condoned by the majority of the US population, and has always been illegal, at least since the 20th Century. It has also never been legal, since 1934 at least, to shoot "30 ducks a man", even in La. That is a violation of both State, and Federal Game Laws. "Two or three hundred Spanish mackerel per fisherman in Lake Pontchartrain", I am sure is an exageration, since I believe that would be physically impossible, without the use of a net. And, unless they were all released, it would've been illegal without a commerical fishing license. I found these excerpts to be very disturbing, since he seems to be advocating violation of established laws.

Now, to the issue at hand. Let me start by stating that I am a practicing doctor (ND), and my B.S. was in Biology, so I have years, years, and more years of anatomy study under my belt, both human and animal. His source for his position that fish are incapable of feeling pain, is a web article by Dr. James D. Rose, at the University of Wyoming. Dr. Rose is not a physician, but an instructuor at the University. And this article was not done from any study, or peer-reviewed publication. It is merely his conjecture, and he even contradicts himself several times in the article. He has no direct sources listed to back up his strange claims. Apparently, both he, and Mr. Boese are unaware of the 2003 study conducted by a team from the Roslin Institute, and the University of Edinburgh, led by Dr.Lynn Sneddon, and published in the Royal Society Proceedings B journal (Do fish have nociceptors: evidence for the evolution of a vertebrate sensory system by Dr. Lynne U. Sneddon, Dr. Victoria A. Braithwaite and Dr. Michael J. Gentle: PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY: Biological Sciences - Vol. 270, No. 1520, 30 April 2003).

This peer-reviewed study shows beyond any doubt that fish, at least the species studied, which were trout, do in fact experience pain, and modify their behavior as a result. This is much different than the involuntary reaction to external stimulus suggested by both Dr. Rose and Mr. Boese.

The fact that fish experience pain is irrelevant to the issue. Fish experience horrific pain and fear on a daily basis, by being swallowed and digested alive by other fish, eaten while still alive by birds and mammals, torn apart by predators and rivals, and the rigors of spawing. Nature is beautiful at times, but also cruel and unforgiving. A trout's place in nature is as food for other things. The fact that fisherman may poke a small hole in a fishes jaw, and likely as not release it is nothing compared to what trout experience every minute of every day. That is probably the least bad thing to happen to them. And even if you keep them to eat, I know of no one who does not quickly kill the fish before filleting it. That is much more humane than what other animals do to them.

With all due respect to Mr. Boese, his article irked me a bit. A little more time and research would go a long way......

And ease up on the name-calling, Bob......You're better than that.

Semper Fi!