It comprised a number of leading scientists and two representatives drawn from angling and shooting organisations. The main findings of the Report in respect of fish, was that they are capable of suffering. No longer could opponents of angling be dismissed as sentimental, emotionally motivated cranks.
Any hook causes tissue damage when it catches and thus, in medical terms, inflicts an injury.
All such procedures must increase the likelihood of injury to the fish. The degree of trauma experienced by a fish out of water may not be fully appreciated by anglers. The tissues of a fish, when it is removed from water, are subject in air to pressures greatly reduced and differing in nature from those they are subject to in water. Consequently there are greatly altered changes in the various peripheral systems affecting lymphatic and venous blood pressure and respiration. Bleeding tends to occur from the gills and, instead of dispersing, the blood coagulates and reduces the effective respiratory surface.