Whaling and fishing

The debate in your columns on the cruelty of whaling and opinions reminds me of a description of anglers in the pursuit of salmon. The gist of it is that if you can impale a salmon by the mouth on a barbed hook and then drag it in agony through the water for ages, then, when it is exhausted, pull it to the bank and bash its brains in with a club, you will be toasted to the rafters and possibly even awarded a trophy.

If, however, you were to dispatch it with one clean shot from a rifle, no-one would speak to you ever again.

WALTER J ALLAN

Colinton Mains Drive

Edinburgh