SPORTING LIFE CLIVE GAMMON
When, during the lifetime of the last Government, there seemed a very good chance indeed that a bill to outlaw coursing would succeed in reaching the Statute Book, the British Field Sports Society endeavoured very strongly to enlist the support of anglers in its fight against the proposed legislation. It was a sensible-seeming move. The three million-odd anglers far outnumbered participants in other field sports; they represented a huge body of opinion to set against the 'anti's; and, although badly organised to speak with one voice, their numerical strength might do much to influence undecided tors.
It was not so much of a wooing, though, as a blunt threat. The bill against coursing, said the BFSS, was a classic thin end of the wedge. Success here would enable the anti's to move on to abolish the hunting of the stag, the fox and the otter. Shooting would surely follow and the final victim would be fishing. Support us over coursing now, said the BESS, or you will find that your own sport will eventually be banned.
It had some evidence, too. One or two Mrs were on record as being opposed to fishing; leading abolitionists of blood sports had in- dicated in public statements that they con- sidered fishing as a target; and, most im- portantly of all, the RSPCA had declared itself officially opposed to it.
But surprisingly enough, anglers, with very few exceptions, refused to be recruited. After the initial appeal, the correspondence columns of the fishing papers were filled with letters as fervently opposed to coursing (and also to otter-hunting) as any composed by hard-line abolitionists. To the BFSS it seemed a strange reaction, almost a betrayal. But there was no doubt of its strength. Tom Williams, a highly successful river-keeper on the Hampshire Avon, and a columnist in the Angler's Mail, was even moved to start a `Save the Otter' campaign aimed at anglers, thousands of whom wrote in for lapel bad- ges, car stickers and other symbols of com- mitment against otter-hunting.
The anti-coursing bill failed when the Labour government fell. But there is no doubt in the mind of the BFSS and its sup- porters that there is bound to be a renewal of attempts to legislate against coursing and the other field sports which enjoy little public support. It was not surprising, therefore, when a long article, urging field sportsmen, and particularly anglers, to unite against the anti's appeared last month in The Field, a magazine which could fairly be held to reflect much official BUSS policy. 'Country activities,' as it euphemistically called them, were under attack, The election of a Conservative government, though, would probably yield four years of respite, during which time a thorough defence could be organised. 'Unfortunately, though,' the piece went on, 'fishermen believe that they are fairly safe, and do little to help the defences.' Coarse fishermen, in particular, were labelled as feet-draggers. If this reproof was calculated to bring anglers to their senses, then it failed badly. Richard Walker, a much respected figure in the fishing world and a frequent contributor to The Field itself, replied firmly that anglers' lack of support for the BFSS did not stem from their lack of conviction that their sport might be threatened. The main threat, though, came from pollution and water abstraction, and their energies and money would be far better spent on combating these things rather than in defending what the ma- jority of anglers thought indefensible—a blanket approval of all field sports, including, Walker said roundly, 'the vicious, cruel and altogether beastly practice of otter- hunting.' He also referred to certain aspects of hare-coursing as being 'reprehensible'.
`Hypocrite', and, by some strange process of thought, 'Conman' were two of the ways supporters of the BESS found to describe Walker in their replies. Another plaintively informed him that the Anglers' Co-operative Association (a body with some notable suc- cesses to its credit in fighting pollution) had been formed in the offices of the BFSS.
Undoubtedly, though, Walker was speak- ing for the great majority of anglers when he expressed his refusal to, stand up and be counted alongside the coursing followers and otter hunters. Coarse fishermen, partic-
ularly, have .a fanatical addiction to return-
ing quarry alive. Currently, even the keep- nets they use for this purpose are being
questioned. Do the nylon knots harm the fish? The BFSS would be very foolish to count on future support from them.
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