CHRIS Titley's item "the many fish killed each day in the name of another country pursuit - angling" is substantially incorrect ("Should animals have rights too?", August 25).

I should like to know the source from where he gleaned this information, as anglers are well known for caring for their catch, with the intention of returning it to the water in a healthy and unharmed condition.

A perusal of the York Amalgamation Year Book shows the "Objects of the Amalgamation", the first one being "the preservation of fish and spawn".

There are a good number of clubs within the York area, running a junior section that teach the youngsters how to fish and how to care for their catch during the art of playing, landing, and handling fish before returning them alive.

His next paragraph "while the fish is scaly and best in batter" shows that he is in fact not talking about the coarse angler (country pursuit), but the commercial sea fisherman, as "best in batter" is an obvious referral to cod, haddock and the like, trawled up in huge nets essentially for the table.

R Hutchinson,

General Secretary,

York & District Amalgamation of Anglers,

Manor Park Close, York.

Updated: 10:57 Tuesday, August 30, 2005