Good points Matt - I didn't intend to treat the subject casually, but I'm getting frustrated at what seem at times to me to be petty regulations - even though they are most probably in place for good reasons (as you rightly point out).
I agree that it would be better if they (the signals) weren't here at all and I do agree that appropriate controls should be in place to minimise the chance of their spreading. However, where I live they are an infestation and I simply want to make use of that natural (or should I say unnatural) resource. When I talk to local anglers and ask them what they do with signals, the reply is usually "stamp on them".
It seems unfortunate that there is this food resource available but that the local (responsible) people who would like to make use of it find that the hurdles make it very difficult to do so legally. As with many things, it seems that if you are prepared to go illegal, it is dead easy (until you're caught), but if (like me) you want to be above board and legal, then it is very difficult to get permission.
Where I live I don't have the opportunity to catch my own food and I do think it is important as an omnivore that myself and my family do on occasions see that food does not simply come out of a plastic pack from the supermarket. Catching a few crayfish from the Thames is therefore more or less my only opportunity to partake in what is one of the fundamental experiences of living - that of turning something wild into food.
S.o.r.r.y. if this seems like a rant.
Geoff
I agree that it would be better if they (the signals) weren't here at all and I do agree that appropriate controls should be in place to minimise the chance of their spreading. However, where I live they are an infestation and I simply want to make use of that natural (or should I say unnatural) resource. When I talk to local anglers and ask them what they do with signals, the reply is usually "stamp on them".
It seems unfortunate that there is this food resource available but that the local (responsible) people who would like to make use of it find that the hurdles make it very difficult to do so legally. As with many things, it seems that if you are prepared to go illegal, it is dead easy (until you're caught), but if (like me) you want to be above board and legal, then it is very difficult to get permission.
Where I live I don't have the opportunity to catch my own food and I do think it is important as an omnivore that myself and my family do on occasions see that food does not simply come out of a plastic pack from the supermarket. Catching a few crayfish from the Thames is therefore more or less my only opportunity to partake in what is one of the fundamental experiences of living - that of turning something wild into food.
S.o.r.r.y. if this seems like a rant.
Geoff
Matt
