My Appalachia
I do not know of a single individual in Appalachia who fishes or takes what is seen a food – not an experience – from either the woods or the water. It’s to eat, not to catch, and then release.
It’s about survival.
Picking wild herbs from the Appalachian hills to sell to herbal tea companies is a cash crop.
A cash economy allows some people not to starve to death.
As a vegan, I don’t eat this stuff. Vegans in Appalachia are a curiosity. I was once served deep fried snake, and I politely declined. The term TASTES LIKE CHICKEN seems to be kind of ubiquitous to a vast array of animals I would never eat. People in Appalachia learn to live off the land.
It has to do with hunger and poverty.
It has nothing to do with sport. Fish caught are fish that feeds families.
This is Appalachia.