[gerbilly]

> the mate on the boat just smashes it against the rail and tosses it overboard

Do you endorse this behaviour then, killing an animal for no good reason?

[thrower123]

Yes, absolutely. They are pests.

Moreover, I don't know if you have ever been deep-sea fishing, but when you pull a fish up from a hundred-plus yards underwater quickly, they tend to not survive if you do toss them back - quite often the pressure differential blows their lungs right out their mouths, and if not, they usually get scooped up by the blue sharks that also dog behind fishing boats.

[hoytech]

I'm sure you know, but for the people down-voting you: You often have to kill dogfish when you pull them up because they have poisonous spines on them and you don't want to get pricked while they're thrashing around.

I've never done deep sea fishing, but when fishing with my grandpa he'd cut them up and use them as crab bait, which seemed like a good use for them to me.

[gerbilly]

> when you pull a fish up from a hundred-plus yards underwater quickly, they tend to not survive if you do toss them back

I see, so you're doing them a favour.

The only thing that still seems a bit off is, who gets to define them as 'pests'?

I suppose some deep sea fishermen have that opinion, but they must serve some purpose in the ocean?

[Kaiyou]

Why do you think they must serve a purpose?

[gerbilly]

Because everything in nature is eaten by or eats something else, and that the whole system tends towards equilibrium over time.

[Kaiyou]

..so what's the purpose humans serve?