Prince Charles backs angling campaign

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A campaign to get young people interested in fishing Scotland's waters pits Prince Charles against animal rights activists.

Tony Andrews, head of the Scottish Countryside Alliance, said fishing -- a sport that brings millions of pounds to Scotland every year -- has no future without young people.

"Many more kids used to fish and experience the excitement of a fish taking the bait and then taking it home to cook," Andrews told The Scotsman. "But there is a whole generation who have never had that experience and we would like to reverse that. They do not perceive the countryside to be cool and regard angling as exclusive and expensive."

The Scottish National Angling Program has the backing of the Prince's Trust, Charles' principal charity, and Charles is an enthusiastic angler who taught his own sons to fish for salmon in Scotland.

But Andrew Tyler, head of Animal Aid, calls the prince's backing of what he called blood sports "inappropriate."

"We appreciate we have a lot of work to do to convince the public of our case about angling and royal endorsement does not help," he said.