REGARDING the letter in the Gazette The cruelty of catching fish, Tuesday August 10, unfortunately the owner of said letter decided against publishing a name.

Being a current freshwater and marine biology student at Hull University, we took part in a module called fish ecology, in which we were taught by the man who trains staff in the Environment Agency's rivers and waterways department.

Fishing by rod and line is one of the best ways of finding out what inhabits our waterways, and probably the least stressful of the other techniques we were shown.

Others included seine netting, gill nets and electro-fishing. Gill nets are left in the water for a set time and are designed to trap the fish behind its gills on its daily migration along the course of the river.

Seine netting is used in marine fishing for shrimp, cod and some other food fish.

Electro-fishing uses electricity to stun fish, it's the most common way to perform scientific surveys on the waterways and works by stunning the fish, causing them to float to the surface.

So, which method would you prefer to see in use on a river, a single line affecting one fish, or the others mentioned affecting any fish in the area?

Besides, would you not prefer to see the children of today being taught how to do it properly by the agency, leading to them being less likely to damage the environment when they go fishing? It is better to see children out on the rivers and waterways of the county exploring the organisms that occupy them rather than sitting indoors on the newest Xbox or Playstation.

And yes if you substitute fish for any other animal, then it does cast an horrific image, but the Government has already shown its lack of interest in the welfare of fish in their inability to prevent goldfish as prizes at fairgrounds.

It is this sort of cruelty that you should be concentrating on, not the pastime of a few people or the scientific benefits of angling.

MARTIN BEANEY Burlescombe